Virtual Worlds...right on time

After the great presentation in class last week I thought this would fit in perfectly with what we have been learning about! Although there are already hundreds of virtual worlds already set up "Big Media Players Going 'Virtual' for Kids" is the topic of this MediaWeek article.

I have honestly never visited a virtual world site, even though I always remind myself to while I am having a discussion about them with someone else, but then I always forget... I always have a lot going on and I really can't imagine having enough time to just hang out in a second world. Sure, if I had two of me I'd love to create another, better me to play with...but I don't see that happening anytime soon. But either way- tons of people do have the time and obviously they love doing the virtual world thing cause it is still growing like crazy!

Today there are virtual worlds designed for any target- older adults, young children and all ages in between. People from different ages visit and participate is other sites as well. The bigger media companies are now targeting mainly 'tweens' which are 8-12 year olds. This is actually probably the best market because these kids don't have a lot of homework to do, money to go out, or even cars to leave with. They sit at home until their parents get home from work and what better to do then play on the computer?

I really do want to discover what this virtual world thing is all about, and maybe this blog will finally push me over to edge to actually put the time into explore. Companies are putting a lot of money into them...so there has to be something cool there, right?

Will Physical Media Completely Disappear?

The ways in which customers can rent and watch movies in the last few years has changed dramatically, and is getting kind of confusing now with all of the options. I am used to the one option of going to the video store and walking around aimlessly for hours trying to pick out a movie, but definitely not getting my movies in the mail or on my computer. Of course most consumers of these products are well past that stage at this point and will be more welcoming to this addition from Blockbuster.

Blockbuster is now introducing a set-box top, compaired to the Apple TV, and will be available for competative prices overall. This set-box top will "allow video content to be streamed directly to a television," says The Hollywood Reporter. "The service would take advantage of video-on-demand technology from Movielink that allows movie downloads from Universal Studios, Paramount, Sony Pictures, MGM, and Warner Brothers," THR also noted.

No report has been released about how much this service will cost or how it will work, except that it would be simple to make it competitively affordable with other similar services. On top of that, Blockbuster has one more advantage because of its strong relationship with the studios, a vast selection, greater than other services may be able to offer.

Overall, it leaves the business of movie rentals in a wobbly spot once again, especially for those customers like me, who may actually prefere the whole experience of going to rent a movie and not just staying at home and having it appear when I want. If newer additions are continuous there may not be any such stores in the future, and although that may not be realistic for now, it will leave many customers in the dust.

Latino MySpace! whoo hoo!

I don't really have a great use for a MySpace, Latino style, because I am the whitest girl around, but I know many people that will LOVE this new addition.  Latino, everything, has been a growing trend in the past little while with special television stations, radio stations, rising popularity in music, etc. It is not really that surprising since Latinos and Latino Americans make up such a large percentage of our population. 

Although the MediaWeek article is short, we do get some necessary info from it, including that "among the site's initial media partners are ImpreMedia, Spanish Broadcasting System, Billboard en Espanol and Remezcla.com."  Although some test runs have been out for awhile this is the official launching of MySpace Latino- which by definition is "a bilingual version of its mega-popular social networking hub geared for U.S. Hispanics. 

The site features a variety of Hispanic-aimed content that will benefit anyone from music lovers to sports fans.  This popular social networking is designed specifically for Latino Americans.  MySpace already has 9.7 million Hispanic members but now those members can also choose to become a part of this extended edition. 

One more thing to embarrass yourself with while walking alone

Although this somewhat new technology is really cool and interesting, I just don't see the need for it.  Anyway- Yahoo has teamed up with vlingo, a speech recognition technology firm to provide users of Yahoo with the ability to make web searches on their mobile devices without actually doing anything. 

The same technology that is already in cars and on computers can now be used anywhere. This new option is called oneSearch 2.o. Users only simply have to speak the words of what they want to search for...and vola! According to the MediaWeek article, "over time, the product's voice recognition capabilities will adapt to an individual users' voice, said Yahoo executives."

The technology will start out only on BlackBerry devices but will eventually expand to other sources.  In addition, Yahoo will enhance text-based mobile search tools as well. Sometime in the future users will not even have to open a browser to conduct a web search.  That sounds just plan lazy to me! 

Now, I'm usually very busy but I don't have a BlackBerry or other crazy devices.  Even for people who use things like that 24/7 this may seem a little much. On the other hand, this new idea could be everything they ever wanted. I guess we will just have to wait and find out. 

Cold Hard Fan Contest

Coors Light is now hosting their Cold Hard Fan Awards contest where fans can enter for a chance to win and compete in Las Vegas. The contest does not appear to go along with any certain sport so any fans can enter. On the home page some entries are listed,  "I once attended a playoff game shirtless, in January" and "I have a cape made of all my basketball ticket stubs."  Those sound like pretty cold hard fans to me!

My favorite Cold Hard Fan reason so far, "My doorbell plays my team's fight song, " is so funny! I would really like to read all the submitted reasons so far. I bet there are some pretty intense fans out there. If you would like to enter the contest you of course have to be twenty-one years old, as I found out the hard way. 

The online advertisement doesn't have a lot of other information about what the trip to Las Vegas actually consists of so it is a little confusing for participants. If I really wanted to enter, I still wouldn't know exactly what the contest was in Las Vegas or what I was competing for. Although it is the 8th year of this competition there are always newcomers and therefore Coors needs to include some more info. 

Hormel vs. Fast Food

Unlike the healthy teas in my prior post, Hormel isn't targeting the same consumers.  Although Hormel products are not much different than fast food in nutritional value, they are trying to create their own image with, "Create Something Great."  This is compared to fast food as just being "something" while Hormel refrigerated Entrees are "something great."

BrandWeek is the best source for these articles...so this is once again from them...."Hormel wants consumers to know they don't have to turn to fast food when they're too busy to cook."  Hormel is going to promote their new idea with tv and print ads that go along with the idea of fastfood icon characters running after a mother on her way home from work while trying to find something to feed her family.  When the mother arrives home the Hormel Entree is there to defend dinner time...very corny. 

The food items are not new to the company but they are looking for a new way to promote them and new consumers to attract.  Hormel wants consumers to realize that even if they are in a rush for dinner time they do not need to resort to fast food. Instead they have the option of fast dinner entrees that still taste great. 

Hormel plans on running the ads through August but may continue longer if it turns out successful. 

Be honest! with Honest Tea!

I have seen these Honest Teas in our little college store but seeing the small pieces at the bottom, I never had the biggest desire to try it.  Healthier diets are now the range all across the country so the Honest expansion should go over well, especially now that they have added slightly more sugar. The range of teas are still USDA Certified Organic but now they will also appeal to the sweeter consumers. 

The flavors include Citrus Green Energy tea,  Honey Green tea, Lemon Black tea, Peach White tea, and Pomegranate White tea with Acai.  Honest Tea is trying to expand its market with the added sugar and keep the USDA certification at the same time so they can reach more consumers.  

Along with the added sugar, Honest Tea has also changed its packaging to attract different consumers that are looking for healthy treats but are not the most hard-core types.  This is really the best way for companies like this to attract new consumers who have multiple interests. Many studies report young consumers as being connected to this- they adapt to new habits or interests- like healthy eating- but they also chose products with depending on price, popularity, and similar characteristics. 

According to the BrandWeek article Honest Tea will begin the new promotion with "a year long, 10-city sampling tour." Jamis bicycles will also take part in the promo for a supporting sweepstakes.