Currently in southern China there are five factory jobs available to each person. This labor shortage doesn’t just effect the lower paying factories but the higher waged workers as well. Workers have begun job-hopping from factory to factory causing factory owners to constantly train new workers. Traditionally price sensitive industries, such as the toy industry, are amongst the hardest hit when circumstances like this occur. Affordable labor is what made China so appetizing to our industry to begin with. Those margins are being stripped away every day. And now, with so many testing restrictions squeezing the factories, more and more rumors abound that Chinese-owned toy companies are looking inward rather than outward for future sales. With less of a need for U.S. partners, what’s the fate of our industry? We welcome your comments.

–

By: Matt Nuccio, Design Edge

Originally posted on aNb Media Inc. here >>

Design Edge is a New York-based graphic design and research development studio with office in Hong Kong. Matt Nuccio can be reached at (516) 377–0500 or at matt@designedge.net.

The Khasi tribe in the remote Indian state of Meghalaya is among the last surviving matriarchal societies of the world. In this tribe, it is the daughters of the families who inherit all their ancestral property. All decisions related to the livelihood of the family are made by women.
In fact, so completely do women dominate the worlds of work and home in Meghalaya, that angry men formed a liberation group called Symbai Rimbai Tongbai. Most women in the state were unfazed by the development. “Nothing happens in the family unless we want it,” the BBC quoted Julia Lyngdoh. “My husband leaves it all to me and same is the case throughout our state.”
Well, here’s breaking news for the rest of the world. While there is still a lot of patriarchy in the world, the spirit of Meghalaya is well and alive on the Internet, and in the great American marketplace. And marketers would do well to be cognizant of the importance of speaking to women.

Sometimes, numbers are worth more than a thousand words.

In 2009, Ad Age reported that women controlled $4.3 trillion of the $5.9 trillion in U.S. consumer spending, or 73% of household spending. And in a trend that continues to go up, up and away, DM News reported this year that women influence as much as 85% of the household purchases.

And moms (a subset of women) have a disproportionately high impact on the economy. Marketing Sherpa reports that the buying power of moms was over $2.1 trillion annually. The book, Trillion Dollar Moms, states that moms account for 55% of spending on consumer electronics and 51% of all food purchases in America.

So, no matter what your product category is, you might want to be targeting your message to women. At the BDI Conference hosted by CUNY in New York City in August, Matt Gentile, director of PR and Communication at Century 21, revealed that the entire social marketing effort of the real estate firm was geared to reach women.

“If it were left to my devices,” he said, “I would still be in Florida. My wife played a very influential role in our moving and buying property in New York.” And Century 21 is not alone. The marketing efforts of brands like Axe and Old Spice have women as the preferred demographic for both creative development as well as media placements.

But just what is the best way to get your message across to this highly influential segment? All roads point to the Internet.

According to the June 2010 UNICast What Women Want from the Web Report, 64% of women plan to use the Internet to find sales and compare prices whenever they plan to make a purchase, for small- and big-ticket items alike. In fact, women 18 to 24 are much more inclined to do this kind of comparison shopping research solely online.

“Plainly put, women are utilizing the Internet as a resource for simple and complex purchasing inquiries. They enjoy, arguably more so than men, educating themselves through the use of the Net,” says Emily Carroll, manager, Strategic Insights, Leapfrog Interactive. “They’re looking for more shortcuts to save time and money. In doing so, they’re searching more, browsing more, consuming more content, and seeking input from their trusted friends and confidants online.”

With these dynamics, social networking is especially important when it comes to marketing to women. Social networks like Facebook and community sites like Graco Nation enable women to make a connection with one another, and have discussions over a product, service or brand.

This is why marketers looking to get their message across to women effectively would not be advised to make one message and broadcast it to a wide audience. Instead, they can look to capture the basic contact information of an end user, build trust through relevant communications over a period of time, before extending the conversation to social networks.

And that’s not all. Marketing to women via social networks requires a highly nuanced approach.

“There are vast differences in the way that men and women use social media,” says Carroll. “Men might engage in games like Mafia Wars or post information about what they are doing, like attending a sporting event with their sons. Women, on the other hand, will typically discuss products they use and like as well as coupons or information about sales that are going on.”

Huggies is a great example of a brand leveraging the unique dynamics of this segment to maximize the impact of its message. In its weekly email communications stream, Huggies embeds links to download a pregnancy countdown widget. Once an expectant mother downloads the widget, she can choose to embed it in her social networking profile. Huggies sends relevant information to the mom through the widget daily — information that she can then share and discuss with her friends and other expectant moms.

The Old Spice viral video, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” is another great example of a brand using social media to get their message across to women effectively. Unless you have been staying underneath the great oil covered ocean, you’ve probably seen or at least heard of the commercial. According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, the Old Spice YouTube channel has already garnered 75 million views — and it shows no signs of slowing down.

In summary, no matter what your product, there’s a good chance you should be talking to women. And for your campaign to be effective, they should find it easy to talk about you. As marketers have found out in recent years, the rewards of recognizing these shifts in market and marketing dynamics are manifold. It does appear that at least on the Internet, the spirit of the Khasi tribe has just received a massively new lease on life.

One of the more intriguing pieces of advice handed out during MediaPost’s Mobile Summit last week was Eric Bader’s exhortation to look elsewhere besides digital budgets to fund mobile campaigns. He argued that because digital budgets were already small–between 5% and 8% of a brand’s ad spending–it wasn’t a good place to look for extra dollars.

Instead, those who champion mobile as an emerging ad vehicle should look to more established but potentially vulnerable areas like print, email and traditional direct marketing. “Chasing digital dollars for mobile is nuts,” said Bader, chief strategy officer at Initiative. The problem is that mobile is typically considered an extension of digital spending, not a separate format. So any money diverted to the category comes from online budgets.

Executives at other agencies agreed with Bader but indicated it’s not so easy to wrest funding from other media categories .”It would be ideal for mobile to take budget from other media but it often plays out differently. It’s usually taken out of digital budgets,” noted Adam Kasper, managing director, digital innovation at Havas Digital’s Media Contacts. Naturally, digital groups within agencies don’t want to cannibalize budgets for search, display or social media to fund expansion into mobile marketing and advertising.

But even with a separate mobile unit in Mobext at Havas, the dollars for mobile end up coming from digital. “Having a mobile unit allows us to go in and pitch [business] separately, though, where if we were selling it through the digital group it would be impossible to pull budgets from other media,” he said.

Brenna Hanly, who holds the title of “mobile catalyst” at Boston-based agency Mullen’s newly formed mobile group, confirmed mobile dollars typically come from digital as well as email and direct marketing budgets. Because the agency doesn’t view mobile as a separate entity “we also recommend taking a small percentage out of venerable media vehicles like print and out-of-home to fund the mobile activation,’” she said. You can always ask.

The best hope for mobile may be that as spending overall shifts from traditional to digital media, it will benefit indirectly from the trend. Preliminary results from a Mobile Marketing Association survey released in June found that U.S. marketers plan to increase spending on mobile 124% by next year, from $2.3 billion to 5.5 billion. That would make the allocation for mobile roughly 4% of overall marketing budgets.

That total includes paid and unpaid mobile segments including SMS, mobile sites, location-based services, mobile video and mobile email. Other projections tend to be lower. Forrester, for instance, predicts U.S. spending on mobile marketing will grow from $561 million this year to $748 million in 2011. Where will your mobile budget come from? Do you even have one?

GrapevineStar

So what are the underlying shifts that are occurring?

1. Active media is becoming passive media, but it’s still important. It’s cool to say “traditional is dead,” but is it really? According to several studies, TV is still the most effective way to reach a mass audience quickly. Studies are also showing that teens are more receptive to television advertising than you would think — just check out this report from Nielsen highlighting a study from the What Teens Want conference.

As an advertiser, you’re more likely to reach a mass segment of your audience using traditional impression-based media even if you’re paying for un-targeted impressions based on the volume of impressions you are able to gain. A number of media vendors are smartly beginning to package interactive media opportunities with traditional placements, driving up the value that is received by buying into the medium. TV, print, and radio will no longer be the main driver to instant action; however, they drive brand awareness, which makes your audience more likely to visit a social media page, click a banner ad, and/or participate in an event.

2. Experience is everything. A major shift in behavior is the role of instant gratification. Increasingly, consumers are given an instant high online and offline, and your marketing strategy better account for this when a teen interacts with your brand. Online, teens can spend hours reading Facebook gossip the instant that it is posted. Offline, mobile devices are bridging the gap between these interactions and are providing a forum for people — at any point in the day — to get that instant feeling.

Whether teens are interacting online or offline, the brand experience is what’s important. Make use of co-branded artistic opportunities with music, such as Nike did with the band Ok Go, or movies/videos, applications or adver-games. If you want to kick it old school, run a simple promotion, contest or sweepstakes. But keep in mind that the next step down the path to teen marketing Zen is providing payoff to the effort they’re putting into interacting with your campaign; a simple offer won’t cut it.

3. Coupons are cool again. Strike that — loyalty programs are cool. Once you’ve opened up that two-way street with your consumer, invest in the community. If it’s Facebook, build out and maintain your page. If it’s an in-store rewards system, make it something that’s better than your competitors’ rewards systems.

Keep in mind the most important marketing message of all: the one that doesn’t include any marketing. If you’re going to build goodwill with teens, it’s important not to come across like a used car salesman. Include relevant, cultural content to your fans or loyalty network to drive interaction. That will ensure your marketing messages are read and, more importantly, accepted when you have something valuable to say.

In closing, it’s important to look deeper into the shifts that are occurring in consumer behavior and not just the tactics. Make sure you utilize proven tactics efficiently, dive deeper into what will really work, and provide value beyond the initial interaction.

African-Americans use the most voice minutes, more than 1,300 a month on average, followed by Hispanics with 826 minutes a month. Even Asians/Pacific Islanders, with 692 average monthly minutes, talk more than Whites, who use 647 voice minutes a month.

Blacks and Hispanics are also the most avid texters. Hispanics exchange about 767 SMS messages a month. while Blacks send and receive about 780 — far more than Whites (566 texts a month). The Nielsen data roughly corresponds with findings from a Pew Research Center study in May that showed Blacks and English-speaking Latinos are among the biggest mobile Web users.

Cell phone ownership is higher among African-Americans and Latinos than among Whites (87% vs. 80%), according to Pew. But other recent research from comScore indicates that smartphone owners are still predominantly white. That suggests marketers targeting campaigns to devices like the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android phones are largely missing out on reaching minority consumers.

In terms of gender, Nielsen found women talk 22% more than men (856 minutes a month compared to men’s 667) and text more, too, with an average of 601 SMS messages a month compared to 447 for men.

Regionally, Southerners tend to talk the most on mobile phones, averaging more than 800 minutes a month. Mississippi, one of the nation’s poorest states, ranks high in both talking and texting, according to Nielsen.

Looking at text use by age, it’s no surprise that hyper-social teens are the most enthusiastic practitioners. Those under 18 exchange nearly 2,800 messages a month. That’s more than twice as much as the 1,300 sent or received each month by 18- to 24-year-olds, the next most avid group.

That is, the technorati of Silicon Valley believe that brick-and-mortar video game stores — GameStop has more than 6,000 of them — are about to go the way of music and movie video stores. But J. Paul Raines, chief executive of Grapevine, Texas-based GameStop, the biggest retailer of games in the country, said in an interview that isn’t happening. On top of that, he says GameStop is moving fast to embrace the digital online future. Putting a flagship store in the middle of Silicon Valley, just down the street from digital distribution rival OnLive, is a stake in the ground.

The new store is a model for how GameStop will marry online games with packaged goods. It has downloadable and Flash-based games on a web-connected PC. It has reward program kiosks, big displays for watching demos, and all sorts of other technology.

Seeking to avoid the fate of Hollywood Video, the video-rental business that shut more than 2,000 stores and laid off more than 19,000 employees, GameStop has bought Kongregate, an indie online game portal. And it also acquired Jolt Online Gaming, a maker of free-to-play online games. Raines said that GameStop has more than 500 million visitors a year to its stores and it can steer that foot traffic to its web sites and online gaming solutions.

The founders of San Francisco-based Kongregate, Jim and Emily Greer, were on hand to show that their site was up and running using the store’s high-speed internet connection. Thanks to Kongregate’s traffic, GameStop now has another 10 million unique visitors a month to its already-popular GameStop web site. In the past, GameStop might have been lucky to monetize maybe 1 percent of its web site traffic. But with Kongregate and some serious efforts at monetization, the stores can help convert more of that traffic to loyal, paying customers, said Chris Petrovic, general manager of GameStop Digital Ventures, which is preparing to invest $100 million a year in the online business.

The Palo Alto store is one of about 25 such stores that have already been built in marquee locations around the country. It shows how GameStop can keep its store customers more engaged through reward programs. Inside the store, there are lots of kiosks and displays that can keep gamers engaged. The store is around 2,700-square-feet, or about twice the size of the typical GameStop store. There is plenty of space to walk around and watch game demos. There’s also a big trading center, where users can buy and sell their used games, which are now 31 percent of the chain’s sales.

Tony Bartel, president of GameStop, showed me and Nintendo’s head of sales and marketing, Cammie Dunaway, how the kiosks work. You walk up to the big display and show your PowerUp Rewards Pro card to an optical scanner. Your name comes up on the screen and then displays the games you’ve bought. It also shows your wish list and allows you to add to it. You do so by grabbing a game from the racks and scanning its barcode. The game instantly pops up on the Interactive Game Guide kiosk display (below). You can share the information with your friends. And GameStop can give you more rewards and achievements the more you spend at the store.

Not only can you buy physical goods, you can also purchase downloadable content for your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 game console (the PS 3 is coming soon). Bartel showed how you could look up a Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 game and then tap on the description, read reviews, or tap on the downloadable content. You can then purchase the content, swipe a credit card, and then receive a validation code. Then you can go home and download the title. The content is priced the same as if you downloaded it at home, but if you buy it at GameStop, it counts toward your rewards.

Bartel said that early results show the PowerUp Rewards Pro is extremely popular with customers and that the kiosks are also a big draw. Dunaway asked how wide the demographic reach of the program is, given Nintendo’s audience is more mass market than hardcore. Bartel said that the results show that a broad swath of consumers are participating.

The company is in the midst of rolling out the kiosks as fast as it can. Although Raines and others say that digital distribution isn’t an insurmountable threat, there’s still pressure on earnings as the traditional console game sales slow down. GameStop missed its earnings target in its most recent quarter.

The digital strategy strikes me as wise and measured. But I’m still surprised that GameStop is still opening lots of stores. In the first half of the year, it opened 99 net new stores, adding some and closing older stores. Raines says the rate of store openings has slowed and the chain will probably add a net of 2 percent expansion of store square footage in the U.S.

It’s likely that the chain is adding the stores in a measured way, signing short-term leases so it can close them quickly if needed. In that sense, the recession is aiding GameStop. It has plenty of prime storefronts to choose from these days and can tap the old Hollywood video sites to open new flagship stores. But it better keep putting the pedal to the metal on the digital online expansion strategy, which includes acquiring new companies. The Greers acknowledge it’s a challenge, but they also say they know they are just the first big acquisition, not the last.

Bill Tai, a partner at Charles River Ventures, is an investor in online game companies such used game seller Glyde. He was at the opening, where he looked around and said, “They’re doing what they have to do to survive.”

Why did Blockbuster fail against Netflix?

Why did Barnes & Noble stumble while Amazon thrived?

Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen’s focus on innovation in commercial enterprises led to his first book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma,” which articulated his theory of disruptive technology. In the book, he argues that existing franchises are fundamentally frozen to adapt to new disruptive or emerging technologies because they’re getting rich from existing systems.

Whereas Christensen’s theories have been applied and analyzed in the context of technology firms, it’s clear that media — and specifically content — companies are also faced with this phenomenon. Take, for example newspapers: many failed to react and adapt to the onset of the Internet and World Wide Web in the late 1990s. By the time some were forced to adjust, it was too late. Mind you, even those who dove in to the revolution head-on suffered.

Analogously, today you are seeing online media companies that have a text-centric DNA fail to adjust and adapt to online video, even though video clearly remains the fastest growing segment in the fastest growing medium that is online media.

Most publishers of text content (articles) are reaping the immediate benefits of search engine traffic, booming contextual search and display advertising revenue, so they fail to re-engineer their content producers or condition their users (readers, in this case) even though plenty of marketers are starting to demand video opportunities and inventory, and around the Web users are increasingly watching content.

To these publishers, video is seemingly as foreign as online publishing was to the newspapers. It’s not necessarily their fault. If a publisher has commanded a large audience of 5, 10 or 50 million unique readers per month, the reality is that many of these readers are less interested today in videos than they are in articles. Indeed, adding videos to their sites fail to generate the kind of audiences that articles command. For this reason, some are introducing videos contextually, playing videos automatically (with sound off) alongside their articles, hoping to introduce and condition their readers to become viewers.

By contrast, new video producers are popping up at a torrid rate, distributing content cheaply via YouTube and company and commanding viewers that far outstrip the number of video viewers on the article-centric publishers.

Over time, there is no guarantee that the video producers will generate more revenue than their article-based brethren, and lacking an in-house sales team, the reality is that many never will. But the new media producers of video content who can create an evergreen base of videos and build audiences over time and engage marketers should find themselves in the disruptor’s seat. A few may potentially even command more valuable enterprises than those who stick to the tried-and-tested formula of articles, images, and little else.

But the fact remains: publishers are in the driver’s seat. Those who can learn from history and avoid becoming the latest victim of the innovator’s dilemma will find themselves in the lead when the checkered flag is waved.
Ashkan Karbasfrooshan is CEO of WatchMojo.com
(c) 2010 MediaPost Communications, 1140 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10001

It’s no secret that marketing to teenage girls has always been challenging. The good news is that reaching this audience is not an impossible task. In fact, here are 10 emerging best practices to consider when preparing to connect with teenagers:
1. Most brands are totally irrelevant When it comes to things like fashion, teen girls want to associate themselves with a limited number of brands and have little time for anyone else. As a brand, if you’re not helping to create a girl’s personal image, what are you doing for her?

2. Plan to lose them and have a strategy to bring them back The fact is that teens try on brands like they do identities and rarely, if ever, will you secure their loyalty. Brands should be prepared to lose them — probably more than once — and then have a strategy in place to bring them back.

3. Enable multiple personalities Choice leads to fragmentation and teenage girls love to try new things. Marketers should look to help facilitate this rapid form of marketing prototyping by offering free samples and online demonstrations to help them envision how the product fits into their lives.

4. Provide (offer?) places to talk and ways to share Social networking sites are the glue that hold teens together. Compared with the total mobile Internet population, teens are the biggest consumers of social media, music, games, videos/movies and technology/science. By giving teens opportunities to share, discover, mix and communicate, brands can influence them, get them to take action and light up their own network.

5. Create a cause Parents are no longer the targets of teen rebellion. In fact, they have been replaced by ideas, organizations and brands that teens perceive as harmful. Today’s teen wants to make a difference and is susceptible to cause marketing because of their generation’s intrinsic altruistic sensibilities. For brands, the key is to incorporate charitable campaigns within the context of their day-to-day lives.

6. Don’t undervalue TV programming While many view TV as diametrically opposed to social media, the truth is that it can serve as the perfect complement and should be used to support online experiences and build brand platforms. TV viewing is on the rise among children and teens, and the biggest media gainer is video viewing on the Internet. Teens also use their mobile phones to watch videos. The key is to figure out how to interact and engage with viewers before, during, after and beyond the program.

7. Let teens be your marketing department: In asking teens why they started to use specific genres of social media, Harvard Berkman Center Researcher Danah Boyd heard a common refrain: “That’s where my friends are.” Teens adopt the tools that their friends use and in doing so, they influence those around them. Marketers need to find and leverage teen influencers and trend leaders and let them act as brand activists.

8. Give them the tools: If given the choice between A and B, teens will chose to create their own C. Teens are the media and content creators of the Web. Jonas Brothers and Taylor Swift are teen phenoms — not because they are inventions, but because they write, create and do their own stuff. They are agents of their own exploration and experimentation. Brands should strive to give teens the tools they need to help them discover, express themselves and create new things.

9. Don’t forget Mom: Ask a teen girl who her BFF is and 86% of American teens will say their mother, according to the TRU Study on Global Teens. Today, Moms are the teen girl’s confidant, serving as curators of their teens’ purchasing habit and the primary drivers of purchase intent. For instance, according to a new study on Teen Health Perceptions, parents are the leading sources for health advice. According to the study, 63% of teens say that when they have questions about health and nutrition, they go to their parents/guardians for information. One half turns to the Internet.

10. Some old rules still apply (maybe more so) Because they’re still teenagers, these girls haven’t learned how to fake authenticity. Instead, this group is as genuine as it gets. As a result, it is critical for brands to be transparent and trustworthy if their goal is to build brand preference.

Looking forward, we will strive to continue examining the teen audience and provide readers with additional insights that help them engage the teen girl group more effectively.

The list of social media used by Canadian businesses is dominated by the usual suspects, Facebook and Twitter, but the Leger survey (conducted on behalf of SAS Canada) also covers other channels like blogs and corporate Web sites with social functionality. What’s really telling is the fact that one out of five execs in Ontario, Canada’s largest province, said they now consider social media the “most important means for communicating with the public” — beating out broadcast media, email, regular mail, and the telephone.

The Canadian survey results come not long after a U.S. survey by Regus found 35% of American businesses had used social media to attract new business — which actually lags behind a global average of 40%. The U.S. results were further refined by the size of the enterprise in question, with more small companies (38%) attracting new customers through social media than their larger peers (27%). Meanwhile 51% of businesses worldwide said they maintain contact with customers via social media, according to Regus, and 58% of international execs said they used social media to stay in touch with their business contacts.

Sure, there are still plenty of skeptics out there — including the 34% cohort of the Regus survey’s international sample who say social networks will never become a significant way of communicating with consumers, and the 9% of Canadian execs in the Leger survey who said they consider social media a “passing fancy.” I also try to make a habit of questioning “the wisdom of crowds”: just because a lot of people do something doesn’t mean it’s going to last. But in this case, I think it’s safe to say the numbers don’t lie: social media is here to stay, transforming the way people and organizations interact with each other.

Although it’s entirely new, the trend lines for social media adoption actually bear a close resemblance to previous communications revolutions. Just check out these graphs comparing the first decade of growth for telegraphs, telephones, and social networks (2005-2014, as projected by eMarketer).

The London 2012 mascot range will include soft and plastic toy and gift products and are available now from the London 2012 online shop www.shop.london2012.com, from the London 2012 store at St Pancras International in London and at John Lewis stores nationwide. Mascots Wenlock and Mandeville will join Clare Balding in Telford along with young people from across Shropshire as they oversee sample production in Golden Bear’s London 2012 design workshop.

Talking about the mascots, Clare Balding said: “I was delighted to take part in the national launch of the mascots on 19 May 2010. On that occasion I visited the Olympic Park so it seems only right that today I am unveiling the product range in Shropshire at the home of the mascot licensee, Golden Bear. The mascot range offers something for everyone, young and old, and I look forward to seeing Wenlock and Mandeville popping up across the UK as we get nearer to 2012”

David Moorcroft, Chair of the West Midlands Leadership Group for the 2012 Games said: “It is contracts such as the mascot, recognisable by people around the world that brings home what a huge opportunity the 2012 Games presents to businesses across the UK. I am particularly delighted that the organisation charged with creating the mascot product range is Shropshire-based, an area that is already so closely linked, through Much Wenlock, to the inspiration behind the modern Olympic Movement.”

Golden Bear’s licence for the 2012 Games will see the company manufacture a whole host of gift products including soft toy mascots of all sizes, key rings, charm accessories, collectable figurines, ‘stick on’ mascots and character backpacks.

As another summer winds to a close, you’re probably wondering where the time went—and why you let the kids spend so much of it on the computer. The start of school is a perfect time for a full-scale hard drive cleanup and the re-institution of responsible Internet habits.

If your child has downloaded endless MP3s, widgets, or games to your hard drive, junk them. The thousands of digital photos they took during their week of summer camp? Back them up to an external drive, copy them to a CD, and erase them from your hard drive. And encourage your kids to organize their files in a way that’s sensible and minimizes distractions. It can be as simple as creating a “Fun” folder for all things fun, and a “Work” folder for everything else.

If your child needs an email address, either as a login or as a destination to send research materials, help them create one that doesn’t reveal their name, age, or location. Even if they already have an email address through their school, it might not be the best one to use—particularly if the name of the school is in the address. A free Web-based account through Yahoo or Gmail and a name that’s a random combination of letters and numbers, or even the name of their favorite character from a book or a movie, will help preserve your child’s privacy.

Chances are your child turns to the Internet as a primary research tool, so encourage them to use one of the many kid-friendly search engines available. And while common sense and caution are some of the best ways to protect your child’s privacy as well as any personal data that’s stored on the family computer, it never hurts to have some good Internet security software as well. You need something to protect against spam, viruses, spyware, and newly developing Web threats. And with a child in the house, you’ll probably want parental controls, too, so that you have control not only over where your kid surfs, but when they do it.

Today online and mobile games generate about a third of all games software revenues globally. In five years’ time they are forecast to generate 50 percent of all games software revenue, or around a fifth more revenue than pure console games. This morning, market researcher iSuppli said that cell phone games are growing fast as console and handheld games sputter. Whether you have faith in the forecasts or not, executives from the major U.S., European and Asian publishers all tell me that this is what keeps them awake at night.

What excites me about the online and mobile games markets is that they are both high-growth and profitable, which is pretty rare. The leading competitors are growing revenue 100 percent-plus annually while also delivering 20 percent to 30 percent EBITDA (earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortization) margins. Add to that a fragmented industry structure, no dominant leaders yet, plus clear strategic exit options, and it looks like this is the time for strategic game and media companies, as well as financial investors, to invest.

However, major publishers aren’t structured to invest in online and mobile. Their core competencies focus on management of $20 million-plus serial, high risk, complex developments, launches and commercialization. Online and mobile games require rapid, multiple, small-scale parallel development platform investments. It’s a completely different business culture. As a result, major publishers aren’t driving investment in those games the same way they did console games.

In parallel, generalist venture capitalists are investing less in video games. Despite the rapid growth of the online and mobile games markets, VentureBeat’s own analysis shows investment in games companies dropping 36 percent from 2008 to 2009. Our analysis (which uses different definitions) shows VC investment across video games in 2009 had dropped by 60 percent from its high point in 2007. The drop has come from general VC market weakness, combined with limited knowledge and relationships across the complex, fast-moving online and mobile games sectors.

I am constantly being approached by high-quality, high-growth online and mobile video games companies from the U.S. and Europe who are finding it harder than you’d expect to get the funds they need to drive growth during this critical stage, before the industry consolidates. Quality demand is exceeding quality supply of investment and board representation.

Why a growth capital games fund could fill the investment gap

The opportunity now exists for major strategic video games, media and financial investors to maximize returns from online and mobile, so high quality deal flow is needed. Yet entrepreneurs typically avoid direct corporate investment prior to exit, so major strategic players aren’t seeing quality deals until merger and acquisition time when valuations are full or already prohibitively high. As before, the generalist VC market isn’t putting enough money to work here either.

I believe that a growth capital game fund is the most promising approach, investing in online and mobile games companies rather than more common and higher risk project-funding of individual games. A true growth capital game fund would invest in working capital (debt convertible into equity via convertible loan notes), venture capital first, second, or third rounds (early stage equity) and growth equity (later stage mix of equity and some debt) in multiple, parallel game business development platforms (not “one game” hit driven companies). That’s where the strategic and financial investors should be looking to invest across the U.S. and Europe. Asia is also interesting, but you need local partners to make it work.

In terms of focus, I like companies like Bigpoint, with a portfolio approach for both games (DarkOrbit, Deepolis, Farmerama) and distribution (limited reliance on Facebook). I also like online/mobile games B2B middleware companies like Live Gamer. I’m less enthusiastic about predominantly single game companies like Jagex (Runescape), and the Facebook players (Zynga, EA Playfish). These companies aren’t diversified enough. Primary dependence on one game or one distribution channel is a bit risky for my tastes, as any game can decline or Facebook can turn you off or charge increasing rents.

The real difference with this approach is the delivery of earlier stage investments than otherwise possible, meeting the needs of high-growth companies independent of stage while also managing investment risk. With the right relationships and management, this could yield high growth capital returns (greater than 30 percent internal rate of return) or three to six times money multiple (where the company sells for several times what went into it) due to investment at lower, earlier stage valuations than typical acquisitions. So long as the rules of engagement are clear, there is substantial opportunity to make money by investing in the growth of the best online and mobile games companies.

In short, the video game funding model needs to be reinvigorated in the same way that online and mobile are reinvigorating the video games industry as a whole. The console industry today looks a lot like the old media industry 10 years ago: cash generative, revenues flat to down and cost focused. Fortunately there is a real opportunity for the games industry to attract investment in online and mobile to avoid a declining future. I believe it will happen.

Tim Merel is a Corporate Finance Director at IBIS Capital with Video Games, Digital Media, Technology and Telecoms experience in industry, direct investment, financial services, growth company development and turnaround, across Europe, USA and Asia Pacific, with background in software engineering, law and business from Yale and Sydney University. Tim has the triumvirate of evil professions, having been a lawyer, worked for Rupert Murdoch, and now being an investment banker. When he’s not doing sensible things, Tim writes adventure stories and plays a mean guitar.

MUMBAI (AdAge.com) — In India, where cellphones rather than computers are the gateway to the internet for consumers, the introduction of faster third-generation (3G) service is expected to lead to an explosion in mobile marketing and subscriber revenue.

The 3G marketing blitz will be led by Reliance Communications, India’s second-largest mobile phone operator. Reliance won licenses in an auction earlier this year against rivals Vodafone Essar and Bharti Airtel to offer 3G services in 13 key areas of India, including major cities such as Mumbai and Delhi, and plans to introduce the faster service in late 2010 or early 2011. In the biggest pitch so far this year in India, Reliance just awarded the new 3G advertising account, estimated at up to $80 million, to Grey Group.

Better known to Indian consumers as RCom, Reliance had 110 million subscribers in June 2010, making it one of the world’s leading telecom companies in terms of subscriber numbers in a single country.

“The mobile advertising landscape, still in a nascent stage in India, is bound to change dramatically,” said Sudhir Nair, VP of Grey’s G2 direct and digital business for South Asia in Mumbai. “If the popularity of social networking and associated content is any indication of the internet space in India, 3G, with its additional bandwidth, will trigger a similar phenomenon in the mobile space.”

India’s mobile phone market is growing quickly with 20 million new subscribers added each month. India will have a billion cellphone subscribers by 2013, and is likely to have 150 million 3G connections by 2014, according to Wireless Intelligence, a service of trade group GSMA.

Little has been done to monetize the market so far. That’s likely to change with the introduction of faster 3G services, which will be an introduction to the internet for many subscribers in India, where fixed-line internet connections have grown much more slowly than in Europe, the U.S. and even other parts of Asia.

India’s mobile carriers expect 3G data revenue per user to reach $11 per month, up from $5 a month for voice services.

An area likely to expand quickly with the arrival of 3G services in India, which has a thriving domestic entertainment industry, are wireless music services. Reliance is already moving into this area, signing an agreement with Universal Music to offer a 3G music service.

Universal’s catalog of international and Indian music, including tracks by local stars such as Sunidhi Chauhan and Shaan, will become available to subscribers of RCom’s Simply Music service. The service includes access to full-track music downloads, video streaming, live concerts and ringtones on 3G mobile phones. Music downloads currently comprise 35% of RCom’s value-added service revenues. Nokia launched its own unlimited music download service, Ovi Music Unlimited, in India about three months ago.

Reliance’s first ads are likely to break by the end of September, a Grey executive said. Previously, local agency Cartwheel handled creative for RCom’s basic GSM mobile services, while DDB Mudra oversaw ads for its Netconnect broadband wireless business. Industry sources said both incumbents took part, along with JWT and McCann Erickson. In a separate pitch, Reliance split its media business between OMD and MEC.

Mr. Nair said he believes ad budgets in India will rise by as much as 25% following the arrival of 3G in India. “It could also serve to kick-start innovation with specialized content, adver-gaming, social networking, m-commerce, communities and a host of other initiatives finding quick relevance.”

The first toy made with Borei’s technology is akin to Guitar Hero meets the iPhone. You tap on the plastic sheet that covers the toy and it makes the sound of a drum. You can play three different songs in several modes, trying to repeat the pattern of the drum beat as closely as you can. It may not sound impressive compared to your Xbox 360 game console. But it’s selling for $24.99 in Walgreen stores now and is a remarkable achievement in low-cost electronics. 628 Design, a toy design company in El Segundo, Calif., created the toy for toy maker WowWee.

San Jose, Calif.-based Borei found a way to mount capacitive touch technology — which is the same kind of touch-sensitive overlay used in iPhone and other touch screens — on plastic sheets. When you touch a part of the plastic, the pressure creates an electrical contact on a grid. The location of the finger touch is thus captured and transferred to the tiny microcontroller that runs the toy’s software, which triggers an action such as the sound of a drum.

The technology has been around for years. The plastic is made of the same material used in plastic drinking bottles. But Borei made the circuitry flexible enough to be packaged in just about anything at a very lost cost. The electronics in the Paper Jamz product, for instance, cost around $5 to manufacture, and it is paper-thin, as you can see from the image at the right.

The product was dreamed up by Chakriya Lao, chief executive of Borei; Khane Le, chief operating officer, and Khamvong Thammasouk. The latter was an executive at Synaptics, the touchpad sensor maker, which wasn’t interested in the toy market. They started Borei in late 2008 and early 2009, raising one round of angel funding. Paul Campbell, a former Hewlett-Packard executive who started five different businesses at HP, joined them in the spring of 2009.

“We saw that toys were losing the entertainment battle,” Campbell said in an interview. “There are online games, the internet, TV, and music. Our objective is to put more entertainment value into and play back into toys.”

So far, Borei has come a long way. Its first partner is WowWee, the robot toy maker that has a history of launching cool electronic toys such as Robosapien, Hoverod, and Perfect Puppy. WowWee is distributing the Paper Jamz toys to Walgreen stores now and will make them broadly available at retailers starting on Friday. The drum toys come with six different styles, such as country and western, and three pre-loaded songs. (Since the technology is so cheap, you can’t download new songs into these devices). The drum set can be played freestyle, where you just make all the noise you want, or in perfect play and rhythm modes where you can learn and mimic the drum sounds in familiar songs. The toy is targeted at kids 8 and up. WowWee is also making a paper-based faux guitar (pictured left) using a different technology.

“I tested it on my kids, and my daughter just took it into her room and played with it,” Campbell said.

Future versions could integrate more technology. On top of that, Borei has other technologies that could be used in other kinds of toys. It’s not just a one-technology company. The flexible circuit boards that Borei created can be used inside superhero action figures or dolls, making those toys able to react to touch.

While WowWee sells the Paper Jamz product, Borei gets a royalty. It also manufactures and sells the plastic sensor sheets in its factory near Shanghai.

At the upcoming toy conference in Dallas in October, Campbell says that there could be a dozen prototype toys from a variety of toy makers using Borei technology. The toy designers love the flexible touch-technology because it gives them more design freedom within a given cost budget.

The company has 25 employees and uses a variety of contractors in Silicon Valley, working on things such as printed circuit board layout. Factories in China and Thailand make the toys. Campbell says the company has figured out the right balance of sophisticated technology and low-cost.

PROJECT LOTUS is an opportunity for YOU to launch your SINGING CAREER and become an ambassador for INDIA.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:
•Prepare a verse and chorus from a song of your choice.
•Dress to impress as you may only get one chance to shine in front of our judges.
•Bring your own light refreshments/snacks as it could be a long day.
TO QUALIFY FOR AN AUDITION:
•You must be 18 or over and under 25 years of age on September 1, 2010.
•You must be female.
•You must bring identification to prove your age (drivers licence / birth certificate / passport).
•You must be available within a month to attend a second audition if you are successful in the first round.
•You must not have a recording deal, a publishing contract, a management contract or any other agent representation agreement that you are unable to terminate without restrictions / obligations.
AUDITION VENUES: VENUE

DATE ADDRESS
Pune – 11th Aug En Vogue, Fatima Road, Khondwa
Mumbai – 13th-14th Aug Twister- The Unicontinental, Khar (West)
Kolkata – 17th-18th Aug The Basement-Hotel Samilton, Sarat Bose Rd
Delhi – 21st-22nd Aug Kuki-Masjid Moth Commercial Centre, G.K.-II
Bangalore – 24th-25th Aug Barista Lavazza- Lavelle Road

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT PRELIMINARY AUDITION: CONTACT:

Alchemist Group India CRITERIA: Female
18 to 25 years old
English speaking
Singer
Dancer
Musician (optional)
VISIT: India Facebook Page
EMAIL: audition.girlbandasia@alchemistindia.net
PHONE: +91 77382 00000

Google made another play for the social networking space Friday with its acquisition of Slide, which makes games, applications and widgets for websites such as Facebook and MySpace.

The San Francisco developer provides free apps that Facebook users can install on their profiles in order to play simple games with friends or to arrange photo slide shows.

Slide’s SuperPoke application and its animal-centric variations, for example, are a family of popular social games with which players can virtually hug friends or raise a pet pig. A feature similar to Slide’s Top Friends was eventually implemented by Facebook into every profile, allowing users to rank online buddies.

Google didn’t immediately return a request for comment on the financial details of the deal, but a report on the website TechCrunch says Google has agreed to pay $182 million plus $46 million in employee bonuses.

Faced with the skyrocketing popularity of Facebook, Google has been searching for ways to make products that are more fun and collaborative.

Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt told the Wall Street Journal last week that the company would partner with Zynga Game Network. Zynga makes the wildly popular (and profitable) games FarmVille and Mafia Wars.

The Mountain View, Calif., search giant launched a competitor to Twitter in February called Google Buzz. The micro-blogging platform integrates with Google’s popular e-mail service Gmail and the mobile version of Google.com, but it has failed to retain users’ attention. And this week the company said it would shut down its Wave feature, an unpopular social product that it launched last year.

Slide also happens to make widgets for Orkut, a social network from Google that has gained popularity in Brazil but little elsewhere, as well as for Bebo, which AOL recently sold at a huge loss.

Google’s other acquisitions this year have focused more on its core businesses, such as advertising and search. Google is rumored to be working on a rival to Facebook called Google Me.

The series will begin with 26 high definition half hour episodes. As a part of this deal, Nickelodeon has provided content for this upcoming series, while DQE is executing the production for global distribution and licensing. DQ Entertainment will co-finance this high-end television series along with Nickelodeon, Viacom18.

The series, titled Keymon Ache, is based on the everyday life of an ordinary nine-year-old boy and his set of magical toy friends and is targeted at children aged five upwards.

Last week Dish announced that starting in September, subscribers will be able to watch television content on their iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. On the same day, Motorola and Verizon FIOS kicked off an effort to bring TV to a new digital tablet. Cablevision also recently stated that it is developing video applications so that subscribers can access content from their iPads (and related devices).

In the August issue of Wired, Caterina Fake, the co-founder of Hunch, shared that one of her career goals has been to make technology more human. Fake said,” You should be able to feel the presence of other people on the Internet.” I mostly agree with her. But as TV continues to turn two-way and integrate with a host of devices, the deepening bond consumers have with today’s providers might get Fake to start including TV in her plans.

Erwin Ephron developed the theory of recency planning, which states that television advertising is most effective when it is placed inside the exact moment of consumer need. Complementing Ephron’s theory is Jack Myers’ emotional connections theory. Myers believes that as advertising clutter increases, marketers will be looking to form emotional bonds with customers on their digital terms.

Over the past decade, video on demand, interactive program guides, and DVRs have become the primary places viewers search for content on their TV. I look at it as if the navigation available through these methods — like three rotating “rings”– has turned the act of searching for content into a sort of user-controlled gyroscope.

Eventually a feedback loop (via TV clicks) will become ubiquitous and will be tied back into a multichannel provider’s databases. This rotating “gyroscope” may then morph into a video recommendation engine available through any device. Ephron’s and Myers’ theories should hold throughout this transformation.

New growth for the Internet has traditionally been projected to come out of the TV ecosystem. But with the introduction of all these devices, the boundary between both media is no longer clear. Internet properties, confident from nearly two decades of unchallenged growth, might be financially affected if the interactive interest generated from television viewing were to stay within the TV ecosystem.

Today some TV advertisers are paying double for a consumer exposure. First they pay for the TV commercial; then they pay Web sites to collect that television-created interest from multitasking viewers. Correcting this imbalance is now possible through TV providers’ new two-way capability that enables them to fulfill consumer requests captured from a click, thus eliminating most of the messaging redundancies between platforms.

Incumbent TV players, perhaps using EBIF, will eventually be able to deliver the consumer’s requested data (derived by the click instructions) to any device under their direction. The future prospects of Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Facebook, and others will be recast as this long-simmering imbalance can finally be technically corrected.

Recent press reports note that parental controls might eventually be incorporated into TV Everywhere. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission has also been looking into a browser-level way consumers can opt out of behavioral advertising on the Web. Destiny is telling us that these controls will eventually be put into TV Everywhere for the management of television viewing. TV Everywhere (and similar applications) can act as an opt-in privacy control, and revenue enhancement engine, for the TV clickstream.

The long-term benefits of linking a TV Everywhere portal to consumer choice are as follows:

a) Integration with Web and devices. Leveraging Internet-enabled technologies such as GPS, video cameras, heart monitors, car diagnostic kits, bathroom scales, etc. will allow the user to combine data beyond mobile phones into a video device.

b) Customization via advertising and content feeds. Tailoring the user experience will require at least two interdependent feeds, kind of like how AdWords assembles advertising results based on a consumer’s search request. The television industry, when leveraging multiple devices and a return path clickstream, can create a superior experience to Internet search.

c) Path to addressable media. Interlaced bound and unbound content will enable the user to monitor and interact with personally identifiable, and unidentifiable, data sources from a variety of devices wrapped around the core video experience.

Consumers will strive for a deeper understanding of their world. A personal level of devices — those that can monitor everything from heart rate to the performance of automobiles — will become commonplace and are a part of the natural evolution of Web 2.0. As consumers multitask, they will seek out privacy-protected devices that can be integrated with “television.”

The erosion in the confidence of the ratings system is never going away. Devices that fragment audiences will continue to proliferate. In my opinion, the TV research community will come to terms with this fact and radically expand their definition of television measurement. Also, there is this perceived “war” between the Internet and television over advertising dollars and consumer attention. But I think as the world continues to go “green,” revenue growth for both digital platforms might actually come at the expense of direct marketing.

Zynga confirmed it has acquired Tokyo-based social game company Unoh for an undisclosed price.

The deal is part of Zynga’s geographic diversification strategy and expansion into the Japanese market. Unoh will serve as the foundation of Zynga Japan’s mobile game business. Last week, Zynga raised $150 million in venture money from SoftBank and said it would form a joint venture with SoftBank to make mobile games in Japan.

Robert Goldberg (formerly a VentureBeat advisor) will become chief executive of Zynga Japan. He said in a phone call that Zynga is in a good position now in Japan, having executed its expansion strategy there in the course of a few months.

“We are going to bring a lot of resources to bear,” he said.

Unoh, founded in 2001, is one of the top social game companies in Japan with titles such as Machitsuku!, Band Yarouyo! and Kaizoku Chronicle. Zynga Japan will keep Unoh’s games on the mobile game portals Mixi, Mobage-Town and Gree. And Zynga Japan will localize Zynga games for the Japanese market. Unoh’s chief executive and founder is Shintaro Yamada. Techcrunch previously reported the deal would be announced soon. The purchase price was reportedly around $30 million, but Goldberg declined to comment on that.

Zynga has more than 230 million monthly active users playing its game and is the biggest player in social games. But it is very dependent on Facebook for its revenues and needs to diversify if it is to fulfill its plans to go public. Goldberg said that the Japanese mobile social game market will probably be more than $1 billion in revenues this year. By 2012, it could double. That explains why Zynga moved so fast into the market.

Goldberg said that definite plans still have to be formed, but he believes that Zynga Japan will be able to bring its games to a variety of the platforms, including the mobile carriers and the mobile social networks such as Mixi, Mobage-Town, and Gree.

With endless talk about check-ins and mayorships it is easy to get swept away by the mystique of location-based marketing and for good reason. That famous anecdote about reaching an unsuspecting consumer with the very right offer as they stroll by a storefront is hard to ignore. The fact is, though, that mass adoption is still a bit away. But fire up Foursquare now because before we know it, all interactive marketing will be location-based.
Here are five reasons why and what is means for you…

Desktops are dead. A recent Student Monitor study found that only 2% of college students are planning on purchasing desktops (down from 7% in ‘04). The writing is on the wall: young people are going solely mobile with their computing. In short order, all computing devices will all have one thing in common: GPS integration. All digital marketing will soon have the ability to leverage game-changing geo-data.
Smartphone adoption will hit critical mass. Most marketers are shocked to learn that despite the industry mystique with iPhone apps, only 12% of all consumers under 24 actually even own an iPhone, according to a recent eMarketer study and less than a third own any type of smartphone. That is all about to change; Nielsen is predicting that half of all U.S. cell phone users will own a smartphone by the end of 2011. We are betting that far more of those under 24 will own one.
Privacy is not nearly as important for most teens as the media portrays it. Although studies will point you to both sides of this issue, most teens will tell you that they value staying connected and social far more than they do privacy. The fact is, when prompted to share their locations most teens will indeed opt-in at a disproportionate rate, fueling the location revolution exponentially.
Most young people are single. Make no mistake, the same core driver of Facebook will drive the growth of location-based services: hooking up. Teens and college students are drooling at the ability to let that special someone know exactly where they are and track those they are prowling for. Case in point, a recent Forrester study showed that 80% of Foursquare users are males, like on the hunt!
Mobile data costs are decreasing by upwards of 25% every year. This is a major inhibitor of smartphone growth as many parents currently don’t want to bear the costs of data access on top of traditional calling plans. Once data costs become a no-brainer, the current demand will quickly convert to market penetration.
What this all means is that soon all interactive marketing will be location-based. With rampant smartphone adoption, a market dying to share its location with the world, and the overwhelming desire to “hook up,” brands will be deluged with a real-time treasure trove of location information that will forever change the way we market.

Here are ways you can start preparing, right now:

Create integration points of loyalty and rewards systems. Game mechanics are seeping into nearly every aspect of our lives. Consumers will grow to expect rewards (both intrinsic and monetary) for not only shopping but actually visiting your location whether it is an actual store or a display within a big-box retailer.
Get ready to be hyper-local with your messaging. A consumer’s location will leapfrog to the top data point of behavioral targeting efforts. Brands will need to be equipped to get hyper-local with their messaging based on not only geographic information (L.A. vs. N.Y.) but place-based data (coffee shop vs. office vs. mall), equating to far more customization in creative content. The integration of open-graph data will make these data even more powerful.
Get “mobile social” … fast. Due to the lack of smartphone penetration among teens, mobile social is still in the dark ages, but the meteoric rise of social networking activities combined with accelerated smartphone adoption will force brands to enter this new space. The role of social media will soon evolve to connecting people physically rather than just virtually. Brands should be front and center in the facilitation of real-world connections.
The world is about to get a whole lot smaller for digital marketers. Geo-targeting will continue to birth a new wave of technologies, experts, and devices built to deliver relevant information based on where you are, not just who you are. Brands can prepare by adopting a new framework for how it will serve the expectations of consumers and it should be surprise that the youth market will once again be at the forefront of this revolution.

The Virtual Goods Conference takes place September 22-23, 2010 at the the Santa Clara Convention Center.

What a difference a year makes. Last year’s keynoter, Zynga, has gone from start-up to behemoth. Facebook is adopting its own virtual currency. Apple has implemented virtual goods in the iPad, iPhone, iTouch eco system. Virtual goods have gone from an alternative revenue stream to a key monetization solution for games, social media, mobile, licensed media, user generated content and more.

Virtual Goods Conference 2010 explores the next key growth challenges for companies eager to take advantage of microtransactions. The ecosystem has grown up. Vendor solutions have become more robust. We’ll give you the insight on how to leverage these best of breed technologies and strategies for the next wave of virtual goods and microtransactions.

Speakers Include:

John K. Bates
Platform Evangelist
Entropia Universe-Mindark

Gurbaksh Chahal
CEO
gWallet

Geoff Cook
CEO
myYearbook

Nir Eyal
CEO
AdNectar

Michael Gluck
President
VGMarket

Michael Gold
CEO
Electrotank

Rob Goldberg
Founder & CEO
GMG Entertainment

Jude Gomila
Co-Founder
Heyzap

Ron Hirson
SVP of Marketing and Biz Dev
BOKU

Jikhan Jung
CEO
Gala-Net

Karl Mehta
Co-Founder & CEO
Playspan

David Marcus
Founder & CEO
Zong

Andrew Schneider
President and Co-Founder
Live Gamer

Ravi Mehta
VP of Product Management
Viximo

Conrad Sheehan
CEO
mPayy

Sam Shrauger
VP of Global Product Strategy
PayPal

Dale Strang
CEO
Viximo

Mumbai, India-based Zapak will become the leading marketer and payment partner for Hong Kong-based 6waves’ games in the Indian market. Zapak will bring 6waves games such as Mall World, which has more than 5 million users, to Indian gamers.

The deal illustrates how social gaming is becoming a worldwide phenomenon, not just something happening in the more mature Internet markets of China, Japan, Europe and the U.S.

Zapak will create a Zapak Social channel on its portal and display the 6waves games there. Zapak will integrate payment options such as credit cards, net banking, and Zapak’s own virtual currency to facilitate virtual item purchases in the 6waves games. 6waves has more than 20 games on Facebook with more than 17 million monthly active users, according to AppData. Zapak has more than 7 million registered users.
Add your comment about Casual Games growth.

Look for money inside corporations.

Odd as it might sound, the case for a startup/corporate collaboration is actually quite compelling. Startups are renowned for their creativity and efficient innovation models, but they often find it difficult to introduce their product or service to the market because they lack an established brand identity (and, thus, have minimal distribution and customer support infrastructures). On the other hand, corporations have recognized brands, established distribution channels and strong customer relationships. What they lack is a culture of innovation that can keep pace with chronically changing markets.

A partnership between a startup and a corporate partner offers the potential for some seductive synergies. As a startup moves from pure research to product and sales execution, a corporate investor can provide more than just cash. It can help explain market dynamics to a startup, how best to introduce the product to the market and how to scale. Commonly, it also provides manufacturing or distribution channels.

For startups seeking a corporate partnership, it’s critical to realize the goals of the two organizations are different, naturally. The corporation wants to leverage the startup’s innovation to respond to market opportunities. The startup wants high velocity access to new customers for its products and/or services – usually the corporation’s customers. Finding common ground and developing a relationship that promotes a healthy partnership requires significant effort on both sides.

The corporation typically has more leverage, so startups often have to make a disproportionate effort to foster, develop and support a mutually acceptable strategic vision. Eventually, this transitions into a more reciprocal relationship, once the cultural conflicts between the two companies are mitigated.

When a startup is able to demonstrate strong demand for a good product, execution becomes paramount – and could be the catalyst for a discussion about the corporation buying the startup outright. An advantage here is if a startup is acquired before it spends millions scaling up manufacturing and building a sales team, it can avoid unnecessary duplication – thus, saving both companies money.

IronPort Systems, one of our former portfolio companies at Allegis Capital, is a good example of this unusual type of collaboration.

In 2007, Cisco Systems acquired this electronic messaging gateway company. While Cisco could have bought the company a couple of years earlier, it decided to wait and first become a customer. After IronPort proved its worth and began to scale, it became a less risky investment. When Cisco bought the company, it gave IronPort a huge boost by selling its product through its corporate channel, causing revenues to more than triple. When Cisco bought the company, it retained almost 100 percent of the team.

Needless to say, the scenario doesn’t always play out this smoothly. In fact, major mistakes, cultural and otherwise, commonly kill the marriage and inflict irreparable harm. If you’re giving this sort of partnership consideration, here are four crucial tips to keep in mind:

Share experiences and goals. Like any good relationship, the more similarities between the two parties, the better. Both companies should have experience in the same areas and be good communicators. Both should also have good give-and-take skills, as well as mutual tolerance, because periodic disagreements are inevitable – and they need to be resolved amicably and successfully.
Seek a synergistic culture. Large corporations tend to resist change. Entrepreneurs are precisely the opposite, priding themselves on being untethered, fast and efficient. Predictably, partnerships between the two can create huge frustrations. Successfully combining the two cultures requires acknowledgment from both parties of what each type of company does well and what it does not. To promote collaboration, the startup should have an inside “champion.” Clearly, the startup won’t always win debates. If you don’t think you can have fruitful conversations with a corporate partner, however, don’t bother with this sort of partnership opportunity.
Develop strong negotiation skills. A corporation engages with a startup for one of two reasons – to fill a technology product void or to secure an option on a potentially useful innovation. In other words, the corporation is looking out for its own interests. Startup entrepreneurs need to do the same. A large corporation can easily overwhelm the resources of a much smaller strategic partner. And a large corporation can walk away from a strategic partnership with no more than a bruise. The consequences can be far more dire for the startup. So a startup must maximize its exit options to protect itself against the possibility of a dysfunctional partnership.
Ensure alignment of interests. Strive to develop a partnership of equals, one in which both parties share commitments, milestones and benchmarks. If a corporate partner asks for a startup’s financial records more than once or twice, don’t do it, since this undermines the notion of a partnership of equals. Negotiations are impossible when a corporation holds all the cards.

Streambank LLC has been retained by the chapter 11 estates of Movie Gallery, Inc. and their subsidiaries as its exclusive intellectual property sales agent.

•World recognized retail chain for rental and retail sale of Movies and Video Games under Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video and Game Crazy brands.
•As many as 4,800 Stores and $2.4 Billion in Sales making it the 2nd Largest home entertainment specialty retailer in North America after Blockbuster.
•20+ years in business
•Game Crazy had as many as 700+ locations making it 2nd largest retailer in its category after GameStop.

OPPORTUNITY: Brands (IPs) are ideal for numerous opportunities including:

Retail stores, store-within-store, DVD & Game Kiosks, Digital/Internet delivery of movies, Franchising, Product licensing & More

ASSETS INCLUDE:
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Hollywood Video, Hollywood Entertainment, Movie Gallery, Reel.com, Game Crazy, GameVault, GameZone, Hollywood Games, MVP & MORE
Domain Names: More than 100 domain names are available, including:
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Customer Databases*:
•Extensive customer database, including names, addresses, emails and purchase & rental histories.
•More than 40MM Active Customers and 1.5MM email addresses
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(*Customer database sale subject to privacy policy restrictions and court approval)

CONTACT GABE FRIED AT STREAMBANK IF YOU ARE INTERESTED
http://www.streambankllc.com

781-444-4940

Which leads me to this recommendation for marketers: Why not tap into this talent pool to create authentic content for your brand or organization, especially if your target happens to be young adults? If you give students an idea of what you want, and perhaps some tools to help, they will produce content that will have you joining us in sock-free awe.

Just keep a few keys in mind. We remember how busy and/or flaky we all were as students, so try to work with a network of talent instead of one individual. For brand-related concepts, even better than just tossing open a contest for anyone, we suggest that you recruit a group to participate based on their vision for the project.

You’re looking to them because they have an expertise in content they’d want to watch. That said, make sure there is some time set aside to be ready to help. By no means are we suggesting dumping your production teams, but consider taking the budget for one production and stretching it to perhaps dozens of projects with student creators for an exceptional return on investment.

We’ve seen the model work for our top student filmmakers and leading textbook companies, mobile phone companies, and more that are looking to students to supplement their vast video needs. Here’s an example of how effective this can be:

A couple of years ago, we were approached by a foundation to explore creating a category for college students to create short films on domestic poverty. Up until that time, the non-profit had watched professionals create documentaries that struggled to garner attention or enthusiasm. They thought — and we immediately agreed — that students should share how they and their communities are trying to fight injustices. Thousands of short movies have been created as a result.

It was a classic win for everyone involved. The foundation generated compelling content as well as publicity for its fine work and the participating schools, all for a fraction of the cost of producing a single traditional documentary. The students were able to put their filmmaking skills to work, with some winning cash grants to further their community efforts. We were able to add a new and important dimension to our events, while enabling the students to share their stories with millions around the world.

Brands should be aware that there is a deep pool of next-generation talent on college campuses who are ready, willing and incredibly able for an opportunity to show you — and the world — what they can do. So go ahead and give it a shot. You’ll get great press exposure for your brand and, best of all, you’ll also get some incredible creative.

The government agency, which is responsible for censorship of media and entertainment, issued a noticed this week requiring the monitoring of “vulgar marketing” of online games. The agency said it would “criticize and educate” entrepreneurs who promote their cyber games through profane and violent ads, according to China Daily.

The new rule evidently came after a controversy around particular games. The online game Dahua Xuanyuan became a hit in December after the company hired a famous art model, Zhang Xiaoyu, as its spokesperson. That seems fairly tame, but it started a trend that climaxed on June 17, when Shanghai-based game developer 9you.com hired Sola Aoi, a Japanese adult video star, as its spokesmodel for the game Warrior OL.

The regulation is expected to take effect on Aug. 1. According to market researcher Niko Partners, China’s online game industry is expected to generate $4.5 billion in revenues in 2010.

With the American high school drop out rate at an all time high and the level of violence in video games at an all time high the question that will not go away is does the violence in video games have a negative impact on children’s ability to maintain the attention and focus to learn and does it cause more violence or insensitivity to violence among youth? What do you think?

At San Diego’s Comic-Con, the first insight to the movie was revealed by Marvel Studios, and remember to mark May 6, 2011 on your calendars as “Thor” storms into theaters!

Directed by Kenneth Branagh, the epic adventure “Thor” spans the Marvel Universe from present day Earth to the realm of Asgard. At the center of the story is The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.

The screenplay for “Thor” was penned by Mark Protosevich as well as Ashley Miller & Zack Stentz, and Don Payne. Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige will produce the film. Alan Fine, Stan Lee, David Maisel, and Marvel Studio’s Co-President, Louis D’Esposito, will executive produce.

Second Life is a great case study in social media trends. First came the huge wave of hype in 2005-2006, when every marketer and his mother felt compelled to get into the pioneering virtual world created by Linden Labs, which was touted as the future of online virtual interaction. Then came the backlash, as self-identified “original” users bemoaned the influx of newbies and corporate brands, with some even engaging in acts of virtual terrorism. And then came the anticlimax: growth slowed dramatically, many newbies and marketers lost interest, and Second Life slipped from the headlines.

Last month it was back in the news, but for all the wrong reasons, when Linden laid off 30% of its workforce to consolidate operations in North America. This spurred speculation that the end of the (virtual) world was nigh, all firmly denied by the company’s bosses, who said Second Life is doing just fine, thanks. And while it’s hard to know what the future holds, Second Life does indeed appear to be surviving — even thriving. In fact, this may be the most instructive part of the social media story arc, because (like the World of Warcraft) it’s an example of an online social network reaching equilibrium, or “maturing.”

Social media watchers tend to focus obsessively on the number of users, and there’s no question that Second Life appears to have leveled off over the last year or so. From two million in 2005, the total number of members soared to 18 million this year, but only a small fraction of these are active users. Zooming in on active users, defined as those who log in several times a month to spend at least one hour on the site, the numbers increased from about 25,000 in 2005 to roughly 700,000 in 2009-2010. In 2010 there have been peaks and valleys (with the number of active users ranging from 680,000 in February to 820,000 in April) but that still puts it in the 700,000-750,000 range — stable, maybe even growing a little bit.

Long story short: after five years it’s clear that Second Life won’t be competing with Facebook, which recently crossed the 500 million mark. But I would argue that the number of active users is only half the story. The other half of the story is what those users are doing, how much time they spend doing it, and let’s not forget about money, money, money — how much are they spending online, and how much is Linden making?

Second Life’s relatively small user base logs an impressive number of hours on the site, and the total amount of time continues to increase. From 2008-2009 the number of active users increased 16% from 600,000 to 700,000, while the total number of hours logged increased 20% from 400 million to 480 million. In the second quarter of 2010 the total time spent increased 33% over the second quarter of 2009, to 126 million hours. Active users spend an average of 100 minutes on the site during each visit, and some of these people are crazy, with reports of hardcore users spending 12 hours a day or more in-world. According to the company, users create about 600 million words in text messages and other content every day.
Then there’s the money: Sales of virtual goods continue to increase at a remarkable pace, making Second Life one of the largest markets for virtual goods next to Zynga games like Farmville and Mafia Wars. Total dollars spent on virtual goods in Second Life increased steadily from $30 million in 2005 to $344 million in 2008, then jumped again to $567 million in 2009, and so far they are up about 30% year-over-year in 2010, putting the site on course for over $700 million. Not all of this goes into Linden’s pockets, of course: several analysts pegged Linden’s 2009 revenues at $80 million-$100 million, based on user fees, subscriptions, and land sales. I don’t know how much Linden spends on server costs for Second Life, so it’s hard to know if they’re turning a profit (maybe not, which would explain the layoffs).

But regardless of Linden’s profitability, all this is important because it suggests that the Second Life user base, while relatively small, is committed and heavily engaged with the site. Turning from Second Life to the larger marketplace, I think this is an important fact for marketers to bear in mind as they deal with the continuing — indeed, accelerating — proliferation of social media. Because reach and scale aren’t everything, especially online, where the audience is highly fragmented and likely to fragment further. In this arena a small, highly-engaged niche audience may be more valuable than a large, apparently indifferent one (Facebook, I’m looking in your direction).

The Indian sponsored Pan-African e-Network (in partnership with the African Union) links 53 countries through tele-medicine, -education and -governance, and plays a crucial role in fostering skills and human resources that are critical for Africa to develop in a sustainable way. These projects require considerable investments but, in the long term, they will pay off as African countries start to recognize India’s added value in contributing not only to the quantity, but also to the quality of their economic growth.

Moving beyond the narrow Chinese economic focus on resources will also protect African countries from the “Dutch disease” – the dependence on the export of natural resources and a high exchange rate that stifles productivity and international competitiveness of the domestic industrial and services sectors. While China’s economic relations with Africa are actually fuelling this perverse effect, India’s business model offers healing instruments by stimulating local productivity, especially in the private sector. New Delhi should not shy away from underlining and publicizing this in bilateral and multilateral settings: instead of just “giving fish” and perpetuating Africa’s dependence on external powers, it is teaching the continent how to fish itself.

African countries are already inclined to recognize Delhi’s added value in fostering sustainable economic growth: India remains the sole Asian member country of the African Union’s Capacity Building Foundation. And India’s Technical and Economic Cooperation programme (ITEC) has seen such success among the thousands of African students and diplomats who have chosen India for training since the 1960s, that it is now undergoing rapid expansion.5

Location: proximity and overlapping security interests
There are no direct flights linking Johannesburg with Shanghai or Beijing, but Mumbai is less than nine hours away from this major South African air hub. And the only direct flight connecting Ethiopia to Beijing stops over in New Delhi. Connected by the Western Indian Ocean, India and Africa share a geographical proximity and several contact points that need to be explored.

By 2008, India had emerged as the largest contributor to UN mandated operations in Africa, with a cumulative effort totalling more than 30,000 personnel involved in peacekeeping, humanitarian, and electoral missions.6 But this commitment does not, per se, offer a direct advantage over the Chinese, who are also building up their military presence across the continent.7

Instead, it is on the East African coast that India faces a specific advantage as a potential security provider. The piracy threat along the Somali and East African coast, often stretching wide across the ocean, offers the Indian Navy a superb opportunity to develop its blue water ambitions. By keeping these crucial sea lanes of communication and strategic chokepoints (including the Gulf of Aden and the Mozambique channel) secure, and by developing the naval capabilities of the East African states through increased joint exercises, creation of new listening posts, and the supply of vessels, India will increase its delivery capacity and assume a strategic position, at least in the East African security context.

India’s recent initiative to host the first annual Indian Ocean Naval Symposium in Delhi (from which China was excluded), as well as its commitment to revive the moribund Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation8 are important steps in exploring proximity to and overlapping security interests with Africa as an advantage over China. Occasional tactical triangulations with other security partners, such as the IBSA naval forces, the new AFRICOM, or the EU and NATO naval forces in the Gulf of Aden, could further leverage this advantage.

Democracy: the regime advantage
At the height of the “China in Africa” hype, African governments were often said to be keen to replicate China’s centralized and illiberal political architecture.9 Delhi’s emulationists often despise India’s democracy as a central obstacle to their country’s external performance and often envy the Chinese authoritarian capacity in “getting things done” in Africa. However, little suggests that African governments have in practice attempted to replicate the political features that sustain the great Chinese transformation since 1978.

Instead, unprecedented levels of sustained economic growth have actually reinvigorated Africa’s democratic competitiveness and pluralist institutions.10 Without falling into the temptation to export or impose its political institutions on Africa, India could perhaps shed its traditional inhibitions and start practicing its moralistic foreign policy discourse on democracy and human rights. As a founding member of the Community of Democracies, Delhi faces the opportunity to explore this “regime advantage” over China in Africa, at least in subtle and indirect ways.

For example, nine African delegations attended the International Conference on Federalism hosted by New Delhi in 2007, including Nigeria’s Vice-President who expressed his country’s interest in learning from India’s successful experience with federal democracy. Several African countries have expressed interest in working with the Election Commission of India to study and replicate India’s unique electronic voting system. India’s vibrant base of local government institutions and its independent judicial system based on the rule of law are two other areas in which India can share its unique expertise through technical cooperation, thus responding to specific African interests and, at the same time, outflank China.

Diplomacy: Southern power
China and India are both situated in the Northern Hemisphere, but paradoxically are also competing ferociously to become leaders of the “Global South”, be it during the trade negotiations at Doha or, more recently, at the climate change summit in Copenhagen. But as a traditional “bridging” or “positive power”,11 India has a distinct advantage: in stark contrast to the radical ideological and interventionist Chinese moves during the 1950s and 1960s, Delhi played a much more constructive diplomatic role in supporting the African independence movements in the United Nations.

India’s leading role as a “Colombo Power” in creating the Non-Alignment movement at Bandung and its central role within the Afro-Asian UN block of the 1960s has thus earned it a persisting respectability as a “Southern power”. For example, unlike China, it is a founding member of the G-77 of developing nations and held its presidency twice.

India is also a member of the influential Commonwealth organization and at the heart of the impressive Southern trilateral (and tri-continental) India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) axis that gives it a strategic advantage to engage with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and Sub-saharan Africa. This profile offers Delhi a distinct advantage that, unfortunately, remains largely unexplored because many of the old time Africanist diplomats who served in the Ministry of External Affairs have retired over the last decade.

Diaspora: the privileged access channel
A final potential advantage resides in the cultural proximity between Africa and India. The large Indian diaspora plays a vital factor in this regard: a 2001 estimate identified close to one hundred thousand Indian citizens residing in Africa, with more than half in Eastern and Southern Africa. On top of this more recent immigrant community, there are more than one million people of Indian origin who have settled in Africa for many generations (close to one million in South Africa; 25,000 in Madagascar; 15,000 in Zimbabwe; and 8,000 in Nigeria).12

Unlike the more recent and radically segregated Chinese “labour diaspora” that has often led to frictions and protests in Africa, these communities of Indian origin are fully integrated and often interested in offering their business expertise as consultants to Indian investment projects. Their local contacts also often present Delhi with privileged channels to access key political figures and represent Indian interests in moments of crisis. In Liberia, for example, the local Honorary Indian Consul, a local businessmen of Indian origin, stayed on in Monrovia throughout the various civil wars when most other diplomatic missions had to close down.13

At the same time, beyond geographic proximity, India also offers a much more familiar and open society: racism against Africans in India is not uncommon, but well below the levels experienced in China. For the increasing number of African investors and students who seek opportunities abroad, English-speaking India therefore offers a much more attractive destination: an increasing number of African businessmen permanently reside in Delhi and Mumbai, and more than 10,000 African students enrol annually in Indian universities, many of them sponsored by the Indian government.14

Exploring the advantage
Shashi Tharoor, the former Indian Minister of State for External Relations, who focused on relations with Africa, underlined that “we have an opportunity to enjoy a privileged position in many African countries that we would be foolish not to develop.”15 This “opportunity” resides precisely in the five dimensions discussed above, where India offers Africa an added value that, strategically explored, could lend it a long-term advantage over China and other competitors.

Focusing on these specific sectors, beyond the options much in vogue with offensive emulationists or passive singularists, will also help India to clarify its priorities, optimize its policy-making process and infuse its Africa policy with greater strategic depth.

FarWest Entertainment has launched a global initiative Project Lotus, to find, train, groom five girls who will form a Pan-Asian girl band, to be called (tentatively) the Asian Spice Girls.
Five talented Asian women will be selected from China, Japan, Korea, Philippines and India. Music composer Shamir Tandon will be choosing the Indian singer.

When contacted, Tandon said, “The search is being organised by Elliot Kennedy, who, apart from being a Grammy winner, is a producer and has worked extensively with Spice Girls and many others like Celine Dion, Robbie Williams and Blue.”

Five girls will be shortlisted and sent to Honk Kong, from where one of the girls will be selected. The band will sing only in English and auditions will be held in Delhi, Pune, Bangalore and Mumbai.

Project Lotus culminates in the formation of 5 beautiful, intelligent and talented young Asian women from Japan, Korea, China, India and the Philippines.

The group will experience a development academy with some of the industry’s biggest names, record music, DVD’s and a TV special. A documentary in English will be filmed of this experience.

INDIA AUDITION INFORMATION
PROJECT LOTUS is the search for 5 girls to star in a new Asian girl band. PROJECT LOTUS will bring together five beautiful, intelligent and talented young Asian women from China/Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea and The Philippines.

PROJECT LOTUS is an opportunity for YOU to launch your SINGING CAREER and become an ambassador for INDIA.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:
•Prepare a verse and chorus from a song of your choice.
•Dress to impress as you may only get one chance to shine in front of our judges.
•Bring your own light refreshments/snacks as it could be a long day.
TO QUALIFY FOR AN AUDITION:
•You must be 18 or over and under 25 years of age on September 1, 2010.
•You must be female.
•You must bring identification to prove your age (drivers licence / birth certificate / passport).
•You must be available within a month to attend a second audition if you are successful in the first round.
•You must not have a recording deal, a publishing contract, a management contract or any other agent representation agreement that you are unable to terminate without restrictions / obligations.
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT PRELIMINARY AUDITION: CONTACT:

Alchemist Group India CRITERIA: Female
Asian
18 to 25 years old
English speaking
Singer
Dancer
Musician (optional)
VISIT:

India Facebook Page
EMAIL:

audition.girlbandasia@alchemistindia.net
PHONE: +91 96193 69666

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., (BUSINESS WIRE) — For more thanfive decades, Barbie(R) has inspired girls to dream, discover and explore a world without limits. Celebrating her 125th career this year, Barbie(R) kicks-off a global campaign to further inspire girls by partnering with The White House Project and Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Foundation, as well as announcing today Barbie’s(R) “10 Women to Watch in 2010″ list. Additionally, for the first time, consumers can help select Barbie(R) doll’s 125th career by voting on www.Barbie.com/Vote and choosing from among Architect, Computer Engineer, Environmentalist, News Anchor or Surgeon. The winning 125th career will be unveiled on February 12th at New York Toy Fair.

“For more than 50 years Barbie has served as a reflection of fashion, culture and aspiration to girls of all ages. Barbie inspires girls to try on different careers, encouraging them to play out their dreams and explore the world and all of its possibilities,” said Stephanie Cota, Senior Vice President, Barbie Marketing. “We believe role-playing with Barbie leads to real life opportunities and are very proud to partner with organizations who continue to inspire girls and women with the belief and confidence that they can do anything.”

With more than 120 careers on her resume – spanning from registered nurse to rock star, veterinarian to aerobics instructor, pilot to police officer – Barbie(R) doll continues to take on aspirational and culturally relevant roles while also serving as a role model and agent of change for girls. She first broke the “plastic ceiling” in the 1960s when, as an astronaut, she went to space four years before man walked on the moon. In the ’80s she took to the boardroom as “Day to Night(TM)” CEO Barbie(R), just as women began to break into the C-suite. And in the ’90s, she ran for President, before any female candidate ever made it onto the presidential ballot. In 2010, Barbie(R) doll takes on several new careers, including snowboarder, ballroom dancer, pizza chef and race car driver.

“In creating Take Our Daughters to Work Day, I had the opportunity to take girls into workplaces that they might never have seen, and through these experiences, their aspirations changed and grew. When we started The White House Project, we had to show girls they could aspire to the top workplace of all: the Oval Office,” said Marie C. Wilson, Founder and President, The White House Project.

“Through Barbie, and its ‘I Can Be’ President Barbie, little girls have had the opportunity to lead the country from their living rooms and bedrooms, or get out their Barbie and Ken dolls and call a joint session of Congress. We at The White House Project are thrilled to be partnering with Barbie as she celebrates her 125th career and continues to inspire girls of all ages to follow their dreams.”

“I Can Be(TM)…” Signature Partners

Throughout the year, Barbie(R) will inspire girls by closely working with signature partners, including The White House Project, Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Foundation, and a group of 10 highly accomplished, noteworthy women Barbie(TM) has named “The 10 Women to Watch in 2010.”

•The White House Project: Working to advance women in leadership with the project mission “add women, change everything,” The White House Project and Barbie(R) have partnered since Barbie(R) doll first ran for the Oval Office in 1992. This year, The White House Project, a non-profit/non-partisan organization, and Barbie(R) are partnering to ignite a national movement to encourage girls – the next generation of leaders – to dream and achieve through mentoring programs. Barbie(R) and The White House Project are co-authoring a declaration in support of girls to be presented to The White House. Focused on the importance of mentoring and a commitment to fostering the next generation of leaders, Barbie(R) and The White House Project will call upon 1 million girls to sign the Declaration once it is drafted.
•Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Foundation: As the lead sponsor of Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work(R) Day, a global event which activates millions of kids to visit workplaces on April 22nd, Barbie(R) and the Foundation are engaging girls through mentoring, experiential content and workplace events. By helping bring millions of girls to the workplace, Barbie(R) and the Foundation are allowing girls to envision the future and encouraging them to share their dreams with other girls.
•”10 Women to Watch in 2010″: In 2010, Barbie(R) honors 10 women who continue to serve as ambassadors of dreams and role models for women’s leadership. Barbie’s “10 Women to Watch in 2010″ salutes women who continue to innovate and forge paths to be followed by others. Each of the women on the list is a trailblazer in her respective field, has a legacy-making year ahead of her in 2010 and continues to dream big, both for herself and for a future generation of girls. As part of her role as one of the “10 Women to Watch in 2010,” each woman has committed to mentor a girl, through Barbie(R), in celebration of Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work(R) Day.

The Barbie(R) “10 Women to Watch in 2010″ list includes the following nine women. The 10th woman will be announced in February timed to the unveiling of Barbie’s 125th career to spotlight a woman in that industry:

•Gretchen Bleiler, Olympic Snowboarder
•Tavi Gevinson, Fashion Blogger
•Cindi Lieve, Editor-in-Chief, Glamour Magazine
•Brittany Lincicome, LPGA Golfer
•Danica Patrick, Professional Race Car Driver
•J.K. Rowling, Author and Businesswoman
•Rachel Roy, Fashion Designer
•Susan L. Taylor, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Essence Magazine, and Founder, National CARES Mentoring Movement
•Marie C. Wilson, Founder & President, TheWhite House Project

“The Barbie brand is recognizing women leaders who span different ages, ethnicities and industries. We are proud to honor these spectacular women, spotlight their contributions and reinforce to girls that anything is possible,” said Cota.

Barbie(R) “I Can Be(TM)…” Online

•Global Online Campaign to Select Barbie’s 125th Career: For the first time ever, girls around the world are able to help Barbie(R) doll select her next milestone career. Polls will be open from mid-January through February 10th, and the winning career will be unveiled at a special event at New York Toy Fair on February 12th, 2010. The new career doll will be on shelves in Fall 2010. Vote at www.barbie.com/vote.
•Barbie.com: Serving as a resource for both girls and parents, Barbie.comSM will feature a dedicated and content-rich “I Can Be(TM)…” micro site that will house mini-documentaries spotlighting fascinating women and careers girls can explore, along with various role-play, career games and activities. “Big girls” can also become fans of Barbie(R) on Facebook, follow her on Twitter and network with her on LinkedIn.

Barbie(R) “I Can Be(TM)…” Product:

•2010 I Can Be(TM)…Product: In 2010 Barbie(R) doll continues to take on aspirational and culturally relevant careers with the introduction of I Can Be(TM)… a Rock Star, Pet Vet, Newborn Baby Doctor, Dentist, Race Car Driver, Babysitter, Snowboarder, Ballroom Dancer, Preschool Teacher, Ballerina and Pizza Chef. Each of these dolls allows girls to “try on” and imagine themselves in different roles and careers. Girls can also extend their play online, as each toy comes with a special code that unlocks online games specific to that particular theme — allowing girls to further play out the career online.

Global Events

Celebrated around the world as a global campaign to inspire girls, “Barbie(R) I Can Be(TM)…” events will take place with localized events and executions, including highlights below:

Canada – Canada will launch the Barbie(R) “I Can Be(TM)…” academy, which will invite girls and moms to physically try on different roles and learn first-hand about a variety of careers. The event will also celebrate Barbie’s past careers for moms and girls to see where Barbie(R) has been and is headed.

Latin America – Throughout Latin America, “I Can Be(TM)…” camps will be hosted to allow girls to immerse themselves into different careers and professions, meet inspirational women and literally try on their futures.

Nuremberg – At Nuremberg Toy Fair in early February, three one-one-of-kind dolls will be unveiled honoring three well-known, accomplished and aspirational women.

United Kingdom – The United Kingdom will be partnering with the Women and Work Commission to reach out to girls and reinforce the message that “girls can be and do anything.”

About Mattel

Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) (www.mattel.com), is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys and family products. The Mattel family is comprised of such best-selling brands as Barbie(R), the most popular fashion doll ever introduced, Hot Wheels(R), Matchbox(R), American Girl(R), Radica(R) and Tyco(R)R/C, as well as Fisher-Price(R) brands, including Little People(R), Power Wheels(R) and a wide array of entertainment-inspired toy lines. In 2009, Mattel is recognized among the “100 Best Corporate Citizens,” as one of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” and as one of FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For.” With worldwide headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., Mattel employs approximately 30,000 people in 43 countries and territories and sells products in more than 150 nations. Mattel’s vision is to be the world’s premier toy brands — today and tomorrow.

About The White House Project

The White House Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization that aims to advance women’s leadership in all communities and sectors — up to the U.S. presidency — by filling the leadership pipeline with a richly diverse, critical mass of women

About Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Foundation

After its creation in 1993, the Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work(R) Day quickly became the largest public awareness campaign in the United States because of its advocacy for girls’ issues through girls being seen and heard and fully participating in all segments of society.

The public was enthusiastic about and aware of the need for the program which has grown to be celebrated by millions of youth and adults in over 3 million U.S. workplaces yearly and in over nine countries globally. By bringing millions of girls to the workplace, the Foundation and Barbie(R) are enabling girls to envision their futures and encouraging them to share their dreams about work, home and community life.

This year the Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Foundation begins the revamping and enlargement of its website www.DaughtersAndSonsToWork.org and encourages hosting organizations to visit the site to download planning materials and activities which can be used by youth ages 8-18 during the Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work(R) Day and throughout the year.

BARBIE and associated trademarks and trade dress are owned by Mattel, Inc. © 2010 Mattel, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Please visit WWW.BARBIEMEDIA.COM for more information

SOURCE: Mattel, Inc.

Whale (origin Old English hƿæl) is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea.
The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it wrongly excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti (toothed whales). This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga whale.

The other Cetacean suborder Mysticeti (baleen whales), are filter feeders that eat small organisms caught by straining seawater through a comblike structure found in the mouth called baleen. This suborder includes the blue whale, the humpback whale, the bowhead whale and the minke whale. All Cetaceahave forelimbs modified as fins, a tail with horizontal flukes, and nasal openings (blowholes) on top of the head.

Whales range in size from the blue whale, the largest animal known to have ever existed[4] at 35 m (115 ft) and 150 tonnes (150 LT; 170 ST), to various pygmy species, such as the pygmy sperm whale at 3.5 m (11 ft).

Whales collectively inhabit all the world’s oceans and number in the millions, with annual population growth rate estimates for various species ranging from 3-13%.[5] For centuries, whales have been hunted for meat and as a source of raw materials. By the middle of the 20th century, however, industrial whaling had left many species seriously endangered, leading to the end of whaling in all but a few countries.

Why do you think saving whales is important?

It’s GAME ON For Generation Y!

“Farmville now outpaces Twitter.” “One in four people plays social games online.” “More than $1.8 billion worth of virtual goods has been sold in virtual worlds.” These are just some of the headlines we see today about the popularity of online gaming, but what does this all mean for Gen Y and for brands?
Studies show that half of Gen Y plays online games, with women ages 18-34 being the most-active players and purchasers of goods in virtual worlds. In full disclosure, we have recently launched a game targeted at Gen Y women, with seven brand partners. It is easy to add more brands and is attractive for the players. It’s a win-win for both.

The eight months we spent developing this game has been a period of great learning and discovery. We have absolute certainty that there is a rabid, growing audience of Gen Y gamers that are willing to play with various brands. Here’s what we learned and how your brand can participate in the online gaming phenomenon:

You’ve got to give to get: We all want a deal and most times we will go out of our way to get one. Ever been to a warehouse sale at Barneys? The thrill of getting a deal is key and if brands can deliver an offering that either accelerates game play or adds value in virtual goods or other, they will be welcomed.
Limited edition: Create demand around your brand offering by either limiting the offer to a certain number of players, giving away a limited-edition product or providing them a way to show off to their friends. The same psychology here applies to that of people’s shopping habits. Employ some form of exclusivity in your offering and you will be more apt to get a quick response coupled with the engagement and word-of-mouth you seek.
It’s not all about you: Really, it’s not. For Gen Y, it’s all about them and their beliefs — regardless of what vehicle you market with. Specifically with gaming, it’s critical to be cognizant of why the user is there and recognize that this is not the time to disrupt them. Online advertisers have become adept at loud, in-your-face experiences. The gaming space is not the platform to do this with. Instead, be clever. The game player cares about exploration and winning. Tactfully insert yourself in their world by being thoughtful of their experience and you, too, will win.
Deliver a consistent and ongoing message: We’ve done significant research over the last few months on how brands have been integrated into games. What fascinates me most is the lack of consistent and constant messaging — I have yet to see any brand deliver an ongoing campaign on the same game with continuity.
While this space is new and it’s hard to determine what success looks like, it is the same as any medium — success will not be found in a one-off test. Let’s not forget what many years of marketing education has taught us. Although the platforms have changed, the basic fundamentals have not. Maintaining a constant, consistent and on-going message is a critical component for any long-term marketing success.

The online social gaming industry is still emerging and brands are still experimenting with how they can get involved. Although this is a relatively new phenomenon, playing games is not and the psychology of the gamer is the same as the offline game players of generations past — challenge and entertainment.

As marketers, we must take the time to understand and respect what motivates an individual to participate in game-play and then construct our campaigns to live harmoniously within this setting.

The decision means that people can continue to configure their devices to download apps that Apple hasn’t official approved. Without this ruling, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s anti-circumvention provisions, which prohibit people from bypassing DRM unless the Library of Congress grants an exemption, might have made jailbreaking illegal.

The digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation had argued that jailbreaking smart phones should be legal. Not suprisingly, Apple opposed the request.

The ruling is good news for iPhone users who are tech-savvy enough to feel comfortably tinkering with their devices, as well as for app makers — some of whom seem to have been rejected from the company’s store for entirely arbitrary reasons.

And, even though Apple fought the request, the decision ultimately might benefit the company as well. After all, some potential buyers might find the device more attractive now that they know they can legally get around Apple’s restrictions on apps.

The question is does this also apply to the IPad?

The Internet was abuzz with more than half a million hits to the web site and tens of thousands of fans on Facebook. Hundreds of code entries were submitted even before the film was released to the North American market.

HOTEL HOLLYWOOD succeeds with an excellent storyline, gripping impact, and great camera technique. Never before has a film excelled at all three at the same time. Hotel Hollywood is set at an Indian wedding party that mysteriously went missing in a Los Angeles hotel. The film is based on a real story suspiciously hinting at a government cover-up. It builds to an action packed climax that keeps you glued to the edge of your seat. The film is shot from a first person camera perspective (a character in the film is the wedding cameraman who is shooting the events as they happen) – the filmmakers accomplished this without ever lying to the audience.

The movie features excellent camera work by Mathew Boyd and delivered with sensitive direction by Param Gill. The viewer finds it easy to relate to the story characters who are ordinary, everyday individuals thrown into an extraordinary situation that tests them to the limits of their endurance and beyond. Telling you anything more will spoil the suspense; watch it for anunforgettable experience.

“HOTEL HOLLYWOOD is an edge-of-the-seat thriller, not to be missed”, says Kapil Sethi of Net Effect Media, the company that is distributing the film.

“TERRIFYING ACTION AND SUSPENSE! I felt wary and fearful for 2 days after watching HOTEL HOLLYWOOD. And just think, it’s a story that really happened”, says Mac Ferguson, Film Critic.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The site will remain under the management of founders Jim and Emily Greer following the closing on Aug. 1.

GameStop chief executive J. Paul Raines said, “”Kongregate advances GameStop’s digital strategy by providing a gaming platform for casual, mobile and browser games that can be promoted and played by our existing gamers.”

Kongregate joins GameStop’s own Jolt, an online game service whose first game includes the free-to-play Legends of Zork browser game. GameStop’s strategy is to promote its online games to the millions of people who come through the doors of its retail stores every day. Now it can also promote Kongregate’s games the same way. Kongregate has grown to 10 million users a month on the strength of its Flash-based games produced by independent game developers. Those users spend about 23 million hours a month playing free-to-play games, where users can play for free and spend real money on virtual goods as they go. Kongregate’s backers include Greylock Partners, Bezos Expeditions, and an angel group led by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman.

But it remains to be seen if GameStop, the world biggest game retailer with more than 6,000 stores can deal with life in the era of digital distribution, where retailers are sometimes viewed as unnecessary middlemen.

Jindal attended Baton Rouge Magnet High School, graduating in 1988. “He always had his eye on, first of all, where he wanted to go, and second, how he was going to get there,” said a former teacher. He competed in tennis tournaments, started a computer newsletter, a retail candy business, and a mail-order software company. He spent his free time working at the concession stands during LSU football games.[7] Jindal was one of 50 students nationwide admitted to the elite PLME program at Brown University, guaranteeing him a place in medical school. His interest was in public policy. Jindal also completed a second major in biology. He graduated in 1991 at the age of 20, with honors in both majors.[8][9]

Jindal was named a member of 1992 USA Today All-USA Academic Team. He was accepted by both Harvard Medical School and Yale Law School, but studied at New College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar. He received an M.Litt. degree in political science with an emphasis in health policy from the University of Oxford in 1994 for his thesis “A needs-based approach to health care”.[8] He turned down an offer to study for a D.Phil. in politics,[10][11] but instead joined the consulting firm McKinsey & Company.