FRANKthoughts

The brainchild of three young guys in Iceland, www.iftheworldcouldvote.com is an independent website that allows people from all over the globe to ‘vote’ for Barack Obama or John McCain. The poll was created out of sheer curiosity and so far Obama is leading by a landslide in almost all countries including the US. The only countries that McCain reigns in are Macedonia, 90% of 389 votes, and West African country, Burkina Faso with 100% of 2 votes.

So far approximately 250,000 people have had their say, perhaps you should have yours.  Click on the link above to vote.

Apologies for the blog inactivity… it has been a busy week for FRANk with the move, pitch, projects, etc.

So a tiny post today to keep things interesting!

Diesel is celebrating their 30th aniversary with a big XXX party running parallel across 17 countries (not Australia unfortunately!).  It will be featuring stars such as Soulwax, N.E.R.D., Pete Doherty, Ed Bangers, etc.  Check it out Diesel XXX.

To promote the event, check out this viral video inspired by Safe for Work Porno work!  Diesel has taken images from 70s porno films, replacing “private” parts with well-thought out designs:

We spend a lot of time discussing how brands can create ‘buzz’ online; SO, as the newest member of the FRANk Crew I thought I’d use my ‘blog-power’ to create a little buzz of my own.

If you haven’t heard of The Bamboos you’re missing out on a Melbourne band whose album, Rawville,was described as the best funk album of the modern era. I recently had the pleasure of spending a day with The Bamboos and feature vocalist Megan Washington at the filming of their debut video-clip “King of the Rodeo” (cover of the Kings of Leon original).

The day was rainy, the light was moody, the sounds were soulful and a few stars were born. Check it out and and tell your friends!

“King of the Rodeo” was directed by James Teh and produced by Beat Production. The video coincides with the release of The Bamboos third album, Side-Stepper, out September 1.

In the lead up to the Beijing Olympics Opening Night tonight, Hitwise showed us an interesting Weekly Market share of visits by country.  Australia and New Zealand has picked up considerable interest in the last two week leading to the Olympics.

http://en.beijing2008.cn/

No doubt each of the UK and US market will have their own local Olympics news sites from major media networks such as NBC, ESPN, etc.  The style, local heroes focus, and tonality will still drive a majority of local visitors to local sites.  In reflection of Yahoo7’s brand flat or little growth in audience numbers, they will be relying on the Olympics and current brand campaign to deliver the audience numbers.

Google Trends (http://www.google.com/trends?q=olympics&ctab=0&geo=all&date=mtd&sort=0) also shows Australia and New Zealand is also interestingly driving the top 1 and 2 spot in searching the keyword “Olympics” in the last 30 days.

It’s time for Australia to get excited!

“Dave Balter, a friend and CEO of BzzAgent, one of the leading Word of Mouth Marketing Platform in the USA, is about to publish his new book “”The Word of Mouth Manual”. But contrary to traditional publishing, Dave has launched an interesting WOM marketing experience. 20 top marketing websites have been selected to offer their readers to download for free the pdf version of the book.”

by Buzz News 

…or you can purchase the book for $45 at Amazon.

Download here >>

  I thought it was very smart of Australian Fashion Week to enlist and import the collective powers of elite-fashion bloggers last week in Sydney. It’s a reminder of blog-power as the balance shifts from the monthly monoliths with advertiser-vested interests to independent fashionistas who are happy to say it as they see it. One of the elite ‘bryanboy‘ has 180,000 visitors daily! (5.4 million visitors in a month….) compare this to Vogue Australia with a monthly circulation of approx 50,000 and ultimate readership of 337,000 (source Roy Morgan)
The search for instant gratification from independent observers has changed the dynamics of the front row elite as bloggers and online retailers such as Net-a-Porter jostle for the keyboard.
whatd’a think people?

By 2020 25% of Australia’s population will be over 65 and 90% of these will be living in their own home…..enter the “ipot.”

The ipot links a kettle to a mobile phone or website. Each time an ‘elderly person’ (sorry mum & dad) boils water for a cup of what-they-fancy a message is sent to a family member telling them their relative is up and well.

Promoted by Zojirushi it is only available in Japan, at the moment. The beauty of the ipot is that the elderly user does not have to learn how to use the system, the technology is built into the kettle.

There is a start-up fee of approx $50 and $30 per month for the service. Over, say, 10 years this amounts to approx $3,500…a small price to pay if your elderly loved ones live overseas

Just when we thought Wii was the salvation to sedentary gaming along comes GPS-enabled phone gaming LocoMatrix . Currently in beta, the basics are…you text “loco” to a number (UK only) then download either ‘Fruit Farmer’ or ‘Treasure Hunt.’

In Fruit Farmer you have to be the first to collect fruit without being captured by the killer wasps!

You can play with a group of friends, either in teams or individually. All you need is a field or park and some good weather. You track your real life position using the map on your phone’s screen. Collect fruit as quickly as you can, and avoid the killer wasps!

There are more games in the pipeline and users are invited to design their own games. Each game has a chit chat forum too. Massive fun.

A not disimilar 3G-based game called, funnily enough i like frank, was pioneered in Adelaide in 2004 as part of the fringe festival. Ahead of its space.

 Just back from Vietnam and couldn’t help but be impressed by Bobby Brewers Express in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). There i was sitting on the sidewalk in downtown HCMC taking in the noise, chaos and smog and my mate asks if i fancy a coffee. A phone call and 10 mins later a very respectable couple of lattes turn up by courier @ about 40c each. As if this is not enough they also support ongoing victims of agent orange with their ‘Charity Tuesday.’

A great idea largely possible due to labour costs in Vietnam being close to zero. Only one concern…there is currently a vacancy for a barista with no previous experience. In addition to bread and sundries they also offer delivery of wine, beer and breakfast.

I am wondering how long it will take for brands to understand the enormous power of the web (if used correctly). Take the next president of the US for example. When Obama wins it will represent a tipping point. Take a look at his website, fully pimped with a blog, digg, twitter, myspace, facebook, linkedin and even a mobile application.

Try thinking about your google results as user touch points. If you have only a website you only have one touch point so having a page in every major online community will not only help you get in touch with your audience it will also allow you to have the first page of google all to yourself.

No surprise that users find it so easy to support him. This song & video is featuring a star cast, by will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas. Inspired by Barack Obama’s ‘Yes We Can’ speech. It has more than 5 million views on youtube.