TECHNOLOGY
Sophisticated formal surveys are typically expensive and take weeks to prepare and execute. Online polling site Ask500People allows its users to gauge popular opinion on almost any topic and see the results within hours. For $100-$500, a company can poll 500 internet users on a specific topic and have the results a few hours later. Survey results for corporate polls are private, and the company's identity isn't visible to the respondent. While in beta mode, each question is open until 100 votes are in, generally in about 15 minutes. Incoming votes are displayed on a map in real time, with 'yes' or 'no' markers indicating where respondents are based and what they voted.
- As a way to create a more engaging, interactive and creative way for consumers to experience brands, stores and events, more “blog bars” are popping up around the country. Blog bars are computer terminals which give the public the ability to immediately link participation in a real world event to the online world, adding immeasurable value to the experience. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is currently hosting a blog bar, with eight computer terminals, at their current blog.mode: addressing fashion exhibition. The blog bar is meant to “provoke commentary,” with the public posting their reactions to the show and asking questions, which curators respond to.
ENVIRONMENT
- The New York City Council recently passed a bill that will require large stores and retail chains to collect and recycle plastic bags, making New York the largest American city to enact such a broad measure to limit the environmental impact of plastic bags. Under the new bill, stores of 5,000 square feet or larger and branches of chains with more than five locations in the city that give plastic bags to customers must provide recycling bins for the bags in a prominent place in the store. Stores will also have to ensure that the bags they distribute have printed messages urging customers to return them to stores to be recycled. The bill is expected to take effect in about six months.
FASHION & RETAIL
- H&M, in conjunction with nonprofit group Designers Against AIDS, is launching a new clothing collection dubbed “Fashion Against AIDS.” T-shirts, tank tops and hooded sweaters featuring specially designed prints by well-known designers, musicians and artists, including Rihanna and Timbaland, will be available in H&M stores in February. The purpose of the campaign is to increase global awareness of HIV and AIDS, with 25% of proceeds being donated to HIV and AIDS prevention projects around the world.
- Pro surfer Laird Hamilton is the latest in a line of sports and entertainment figures (Sarah Jessica Parker, Venus Williams, etc.) to lend his name to discount chain Steve & Barry’s. Hamilton will help design and promote its new surf and skate apparel line, Wonderwall. The 200 piece collection, debuting this spring, will include graphic t-shirts, boardshorts and accessories. Each item within the collection is priced at $14.98 or less.
HEALTHCARE
- Pennsylvania based insurer Highmark recently rolled out the nation's first prepaid gift card designed specifically for healthcare expenses. The Healthcare Gift Card can be stocked with any amount between $25 and $5,000 and can be used to cover expenses including co-pays at doctor’s offices and pharmacies, dental care, vision care, memberships at health clubs and elective procedures such as Lasik and cosmetic surgery. Providers must simply accept Visa debit cards in order for the Healthcare Gift Card to work. The cost of the card is $4.95 plus shipping and handling, and a maintenance fee of $1.50 per month is imposed beginning nine months after the card is purchased, for as long as a balance remains. Corporate orders are also available.
MARKETING & ADVERTISING
- Snowboard maker Burton North America recently launched a user generated initiative called "Sabotage Stupidity," challenging snowboarders to poach inside one of the four US resorts that still don't allow snowboarding. Snowboarders are invited to submit a video that documents their experience, and the best video, from each resort location, will be awarded a cash prize of $5,000.
- Brazilian ice-cream company Kibon has taken traditional popsicle stick prize promotions to a new level by including the actual prize inside the popsicle. The company recently launched a summer promotion, distributing 10,000 specially made Fruttare popsicles frozen with iPod shuffles inside. Prize winning “popsicles” are made of plastic, identical in size, shape and feel to an actual popsicle, in order to protect the iPod from humidity and standard freezer temperatures. Participants don’t know if they’ve won, until the popsicle is unwrapped.
MEDIA
- Blueprint, the DIY magazine from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, will cease publication after its January/February 2008 issue. The magazine, which launched in 2006, will retain an online presence as well as reappear periodically as a series of special interest issues.
